English

960H
Digital Video Recorder
4-channel models

EN INSTRUCTION MANUAL
1
 Before You Begin
FCC Verification DEFAULT PASSWORD INFORMATION
Note: This equipment has been tested and found to comply To ensure your privacy, this DVR supports password
with the limits for Class B digital device, pursuant to part protection.
15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide The default, all-access username is admin, the default
reasonable protection against harmful interference in a password is 12345.
residential installation. This equipment generates, uses and
To ensure your ongoing privacy, we strongly recommend
can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and
setting a password as soon as possible. Choose something
used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful
that youll remember, but that others would be unlikely to
interference to radio or television reception, which can be
guess.
determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is
encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more
of the following measures:
Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna
IMPORTANT NOTICE - Do NOT lose or
Increase the separation between the equipment and the
forget your password. To ensure that
receiver your DVR has the best security possible,
Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit password recovery has been designed to be
different from that to which the receiver is connected a complicated and time consuming process.
Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician Only a select number of staff at the Swann
for help
Technical Support Telephone Helpdesk can
These devices comply with part 15 of the FCC Rules.
Operation is subject to the following two conditions: assist. Password retrieval can take several
These devices may not cause harmful interference, and days, which means you will NOT be able to
These devices must accept any interference received, access your DVR during this time.
including interference that may cause undesired
operation.

IMPORTANT NOTE: BATTERY INFORMATION

All jurisdictions have specific laws and regulations relating
to the use of cameras. Before using any camera for any
purpose, it is the buyers responsibility to be aware of all
applicable laws and regulations that prohibit or limit the
use of cameras and to comply with the applicable laws and
regulations.
FCC Regulation (for USA):
Prohibition against eavesdropping
Except for the operations of law enforcement officers
conducted under lawful authority, no person shall use,
either directly or indirectly, a device operated pursuant to
the provisions of this Part for the purpose of overhearing
or recording the private conversations of others unless
such use is authorized by all of the parties engaging in the
conversation.
WARNING
Modifications not approved by the party responsible for
compliance could void users authority to operate the
equipment.
This product contains a removable battery. If you need to
replace or dispose of the internal battery.
The battery is located on the mainboard of the DVR. It is a
primary lithium CR2032 button cell.
To access, remove and/or replace the battery:
Ensure the DVR is turned OFF. NEVER open the DVRs
case while power is connected.
Remove the five screws holding the cover on the DVR.
If replacing the battery, ensure that it is an exact match
for size, type and capacity.
Be sure to safely dispose of the battery. The process
for battery disposal/recycling varies from location to
location, please check with the relevant local authority
for method.
BATTERY SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS
Do NOT attempt to open, puncture, disassemble or
modify the battery in any way.
Do NOT subject it to sudden shock or heat.
Do NOT dispose of battery in fire.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS

Make sure product is fixed correctly and stable if
fastened in place
Do not operate if wires and terminals are exposed
Do not cover vents on the side or back of the DVR and
allow adequate space for ventilation

2
 Contents
System: General 46
Introduction System: User 47
Getting Started 5 System: System Information 48
Installation Guidelines 6 System: Maintenance 49
DVR Front Panel 6
DVR Rear Panel 7
Connection Diagram 8 Reference
Connecting Additional Devices 9 SwannView Link Windows Interface 51
SwannView Link: Local Settings 52
SwannView Link: Device Settings 53
Basic Setup SwannView Link Mobile Interface 57
Controlling the DVR 11 Troubleshooting 59
Setup Wizard: General 12 Third Party Hardware 60
Setup Wizard: Email 13 Warranty Information 61
Setup Wizard: System Time 14 Helpdesk / Technical Support Details Rear
Setup Wizard: Account Configuration 15
Setting up your Smartphone or Tablet 16
Setting up your PC 17
Live View Mode 20
About 960H Widescreen Videos 20
Menu Layout 21

Menu Functions
Overview 23
Display: Camera 24
Display: Output 25
Recording: Encode 26
Recording: Option 27
Recording: Schedule 28
Search: Playback 29
The Playback Interface 30
Specific Incident Backup 31
Search: Backup 31
Search: Event / Log Search 32
Network: General 33
Network: Advanced 34
Network: Advanced: DDNS 35
Network: Advanced: NTP 35
Network: Advanced: Email Settings 36
Network: Advanced: IP Filter 37
Network: Network Status 37
Alarm: Motion 38
Alarm: Motion Detection Configuration 39
Alarm: Motion Detection Notes 40
Alarm: Motion Detection - Action 41
Alarm: Video Loss 41
Alarm: Exception 42
Device: HDD 43
Device: S.M.A.R.T. 43
Device: PTZ 44

3
 Chapter

1
Introduction

4
EN INTRODUCTION

Getting Started
Congratulations on your purchase of this Swann DVR. Youve made a fine choice
for keeping a watchful eye over your home or business. Lets take a moment to talk
about some of the features this DVR offers, and how to get the most out of them.

Oh my, this is a big manual. Getting the DVR Setup

How long will this take?

Yes, but you wont have to read all of it - you should be up and
running by page 20!
It can take a few hours to connect everything and run through
the setup procedure.
The latter half of this manual is for users who want to get the
most out of the DVRs capabilities. While the DVR is seriously
configurable, the out-of-the-box settings do a great job in
90% of situations, but some users will want to get into the
nitty-gritty detail, so that information is presented for those
who need it.
The Basic Setup
The default settings of the DVR will cover most basic
installation requirements of the DVR.
To get the most out of your hard drive, weve configured the
DVR to record only when it detects motion - that way, you
wont fill the hard drive with video of nothing happening.
Before installing anything, connect the DVR and cameras
and test your system.
We ensure everything is working properly when we
ship them out, but sometimes things can be damaged in
transport, and occasionally components can fail. Better to
find out now, before everything is fixed in place!
INTRODUCTION
There are three stages to getting your DVR set up. If you want
to use the default settings, youll only need to complete steps
one and two.
1. Connecting the DVR (page 6 to page 9)
This section details what you can connect to the different
inputs/outputs of the DVR.
Everyones setup will vary a little bit - it depends on what
cameras came with the DVR (if any) and what device(s) youve
already got.
2. Basic DVR Setup
The DVR needs a few things to be set properly before it can do
its thing. Follow the instructions from page 12 to page 18
to get everything working.
3. Optional: DVR Menu Functions
The latter part of this manual is a how-to guide on using the
menus in the DVR system to perform common and advanced
DVR operations.
Take your time to read through this chapter and explore the
many capabilities that this Swann DVR can offer you. You
will learn how to do things like adjusting the video display
settings, searching for recordings, customizing alarm motion
settings to something thats more appropriate for your
circumstances and lots more.
Note: The out-of-the-box settings really do work well,
and wed only suggest changing them if youve got a really
specific plan in mind.

Accessing this DVR from your

Smartphone or Tablet
This DVR supports live viewing on your Smartphone or Tablet.
We have developed an app called SwannView Link for the
Android and iOS platforms. For Android users, please download
the app from Google Play. If you have an Apple device, please
go to the Apple App Store. As we are continually improving the
documentation that we include with our products, you can find
the latest user guide for our app at www.swann.com.

Now with extra H: 960H and what it means

This DVR is compatible and is intended for use with 960H cameras. What does this really mean?
A traditional CCTV camera operates at a resolution of approximately 720 x 480 (NTSC) or 720 x 576 (PAL) pixels* and a
4:3 aspect ratio. By extending the image to a widescreen format, 960H technology increases the horizontal resolution
of the camera, thereby increasing the area viewed and the resolution its viewed at.
In general, 960H is best suited:
monitoring a wider area than traditional CCTV cameras could cover at the same detail
being displayed on high-definition widescreen televisions/monitors
for upgrading from traditional CCTV cameras, while reusing previously installed coaxial cables.
*The resolution is approximate as analog video doesnt really work this way. The resolution listed is the equivalent for a standard
pixel matrix.

5
 EN INTRODUCTION

Installation Guidelines
Do not expose the DVR to moisture. Water is the arch-
enemy of electrical components and also poses a high
risk of electric shock.
Avoid dusty locations. Dust has a tendency to build up
inside the DVR case, leading to a high risk of failure or
even fire.
Only install the DVR in a well ventilated space. Like
all electronics, the circuitry and hard drive in the DVR
INTRODUCTION
will void your warranty, as well as pose a great risk of fire
or electrical shock.
Do not expose the DVR to sudden bumps or shocks
(for example, being dropped). The DVR is as robust as
possible, but many of the internal components are quite
fragile.
Remember that the DVR is, in all likelihood, going to be
left on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Keep this in mind

produce heat, and this heat needs a way out. when choosing a location for installation.
Do not open the DVR case except to install/swap the hard Never open the case whilst the DVR is plugged in, and
drive inside. There are no user serviceable parts inside. never turn the DVR on whilst the case is open.
Do not cut or modify any cable for any reason. Doing so

DVR Front Panel

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
*4-Channel DVR4200 model shown above. The availability of the buttons described here can be different in some models.

Name Function
1 USB Port For connecting USB external storage to the DVR for backup, or for applying new firmware.

2 Play/Pause Opens the playback interface from the live viewing mode. Pauses playback or resumes
Button playback.

3 Display Button Toggles between full screen and split-screen views.

4 Menu Button Opens the DVRs menu, or goes back one step from a submenu.

5 Select Button For selecting menu options in the DVR system.

6 Directional Pad For navigating around menus in the DVR system.

7 Power LED Power indicator. This LED lights up when the DVR is switched on.

8 HDD LED Hard Drive Indicator. This LED blinks rapidly when the hard drive is active.

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EN INTRODUCTION

DVR Rear Panel

INTRODUCTION
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Name Function
1 AUDIO IN RCA ports for connecting microphones to record audio.
These are your video inputs where you connect your cameras via the BNC connector to
2 VIDEO IN display video feed on your TV. The channels are labelled by numbers in the same order as
they appear on your DVRs Live View interface.
3 AUDIO OUT RCA port for audio output. Used to connect your speaker or headphone.
To connect an external hard drive which will act as a live recording drive in the same
4 eSATA
manner as the installed HDD.
5 VGA For connecting a television or PC monitor with a VGA input.
The primary video output of the DVR. For the highest possible video output quality, we
6 HDMI
suggest using this output on a use a monitor/television capable of displaying Full HD 1080p.
7 LAN Connect to your home network router using an Ethernet cable to access the Internet.
8 USB For connecting the USB mouse and a USB flash drive or hard drive to copy recorded events
9 PTZ For connecting RS485 cables to control a PTZ (pan, tilt, zoom) device on the DVR.
10 Power Input This is where you connect the supplied DC 12V power adapter to your DVR.

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 EN INTRODUCTION

Connection Diagram

Connect the power

supply to the Power
INTRODUCTION

input on the DVR

and then plug it into a
wall outlet.

Connect the cameras to power

Connect the Video (BNC-connector) and using the power splitter then
Power cables from the camera to the connect the power adapter to a
extension cable then connect the Video wall outlet.
cable on the other end of the extension
cable to a Video input on the rear of the
DVR. Do this for the other cameras in
your kit.

Connect the mouse to

the USB port.

Connect the Ethernet

cable from the LAN port
on the DVR to a spare
port on your router.

If youve got a monitor with VGA but not

HDMI, connect it to the VGA output on the
DVR using a VGA cable (not supplied)

If youve got a TV or monitor with HDMI In, connect to the

HDMI port on the DVR using the HDMI cable. Pay attention
to the labels on the back of your HDTV/Monitor indicating the
HDMI input number that youll want to select using your TV
remote control to display your DVR screen.
8
 EN INTRODUCTION

Connecting Additional Devices

The Audio In ports can be used to
connect audio devices to the DVR.
Obviously, your microphone probably
wont look like that one - theyre often
built into cameras. The Audio Out port can be
used to connect a pair of
speakers or headphones.

INTRODUCTION
An external hard drive with a
USB-compatible interface can
be connected to the spare USB
port of the DVR.
The USB port also supports
USB solid-state storage, such
as flash drives.

The PTZ port can be used to

connect compatible RS485
devices, such as this Swann
PTZ dome.

9
 Chapter

2
Basic Setup

10
EN BASIC SETUP

Controlling the DVR

Starting the DVR for the first time:
When you first boot the DVR, it will automatically start the Setup Wizard which will guide you through the various setup
options available.

The USB Mouse

The easiest way to operate the DVR is to use the included USB optical mouse - we put together the look and feel of the menu
system specifically for mouse-friendly navigation.
The controls are pretty easy to remember - heck, there are only two buttons. It couldnt be simpler.
Left click:
Selects an item or confirms a choice.
Right click:
Opens the menu bar from the live viewing screen.
Returns one step from a submenu.
Opens a context menu in some settings screens.
The Scroll Wheel:
Can be used to adjust the values of sliders and scales when highlighted by the mouse.

The Remote Control

BASIC SETUP
The DVR also comes supplied with a remote control unit. Like the USB Mouse, it can be used to perform all the main functions of
the DVR. For details of what each button does, see the layout of the remote control below.

Wireless Mice and Bluetooth devices are NOT compatible with the DVR.
Please use the USB optical mouse supplied.

Shutting Down & Rebooting

If you want to shut down or reboot the DVR, or simply log out of the user account youre logged in as, access the Shutdown menu
which is accessible via the main menu.
To ensure the integrity of your data and recordings, always select Shut Down when powering off the DVR.

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 EN BASIC SETUP

Setup Wizard: General

The Setup Wizard will run automatically the first time you start the DVR.
The wizard will guide you through all the settings you need to get your DVR up and working, specifically:
Choosing your Language
Setting Video Format and Resolution
Setting the Date Format and your Time Zone
Configuring your email account settings so that the DVR can send you alerts and the DVR UID
Synchronizing the DVRs time with an online server
Choosing the settings for Daylight Savings Time (DST)
Changing the DVRs Admin account default password

General Configuration
BASIC SETUP

Language: Choose the language youd like the menu system to be displayed in.
Video Standard: Choose between NTSC (for the USA, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Korea and some other regions) or PAL (UK, Europe,
Australia and some other areas). If this is set incorrectly, images from your cameras will be distorted, black and white, or simply
not appear at all.
Resolution: The screen resolution setting for the DVR display. Typically, youll want to set this to be equal to the native resolution of
your monitor/television (check the manufacturers documentation). For example, if the DVR is connected to your HDTV, you would
want to set it to the highest possible setting, 1920 x 1080, to give you the best picture quality.
Time Zone: Choose the time zone youre in. Its really important to select the right time zone if youre using NTP (Network Time
Protocol).
Some common time zones: In the USA, EST (Eastern Standard Time) is GMT -5:00, where PST (Pacific Standard Time) is GMT -8:00.
The UK is GMT +0:00, and the East Coast of Australia is GMT +10:00.
Menu Date Format: How youd like the date to be displayed. Choose whichever format thats standard in your region.
UID: This is the DVRs Unique IDentifier number which you will use later to connect your PC or SmartPhone to the DVR using
Swanns Peer to Peer technology.

If you need to change any of these settings later, you can find these options here: Main Menu -> System -> General

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EN BASIC SETUP

Setup Wizard: Email

Email
If you want the DVR to send email alerts as alarm
events are detected, then youll need to configure
an outgoing email server for the DVR to use, and
choose an email address for it to send to.
We recommend creating an account with Gmail
(www.gmail.com) specifically for the DVR.
These instructions assume youre using a GMail
account. If youre using a different email, see
Network: Advanced: Email Settings on page
36 for details.
Enable SSL or TLS: Enable.
SMTP Server: The SMTP address of your email
server. There are 3 preset options to select from:
smtp.gmail.com, smtp.live.com or smtp.mail.yahoo.
com
Other: Allows for custom definintion of an outgoing
email server. See Network: Advanced: Email
Settings on page 36 if you want to use an email server other than ones provided. Recommended for advanced users ONLY.
SMTP Port: The SMTP port of your email server. Gmails is 465 (this value will self-populate)

BASIC SETUP
Sender Address: The email address you want your DVR to send alerts from. For example, your_email@gmail.com
Sender Password: The password of your sending email address.
Recipient Address : Enter an email address for the DVR to send alerts to (usually your personal email address).
Attach Picture: When selected, the DVR will attach a still image to better illustrate what has caused the alarm/alert state.
Interval: The minimum amount of time that must elapse after the DVR sends an email alert before it can be triggered again.
Test: To check if youve set up email alerts properly, click the Test button. If your connection and email details are ok, you will see
a message on the DVR screen confirming the email was sent successfully. After a short delay, you will also receive an e-mail in
your inbox (Recipients Address) informing you that email alerts from the DVR has been set up. If the test is unsuccessful, please
check your senders address/password and recipients address(es) and try again.
UID: This is the DVRs Unique IDentifier number. We will use this UID to configure the SwannView Link app & software and
connect to your DVR. You can click the Send UID button to receive an email containing the UID (thats assuming your email
details are configured).
Send UID: When youve finished testing your email, click the Send UID button to send the DVR UID to your email address
(Recipients Address) so you can use it for access from SwannView Link on your PC etc.

Your DVR does not send out email alerts immediately when events occur.
The frequency of email alerts depends on the Interval setting you specify here.

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 EN BASIC SETUP

Setup Wizard: System Time

NTP

NTP stands for Network Time Protocol. Its a way for the DVR to connect to the Internet and automatically update and maintain
accurate time. Theres no requirement to use NTP, but its easy to setup and free to use, so theres really no reason not to.
NTP Server: The default server used to obtain accurate time.
BASIC SETUP

NTP Port: The default is 123. You should only change this if youre using a different NTP server, and you know they use a different
port. If youre using pool.ntp.org, ensure the port is 123.
Sync: Triggers the DVR to automatically synchronize its internal clock with the time server immediately. If your DVR is connected
to the Internet, the DVR will update the time immediately.
System Time: The DVRs current date and time.

DST Configuration
If your time zone observes daylight saving time and you want your DVRs clock to be updated automatically when daylight saving
time starts and ends, make sure the Enable checkbox is selected. You can configure when daylight saving time starts and ends,
for example - 2 a.m. on the first Sunday of a particular month.

Note: Make sure your time offset is set correctly or both your DVRs normal time and DST time may be out.
Offset: The amount by which the time changes during DST. For the vast majority of locations, the offset is one hour, but
exceptions to this rule exist.
Start Time / End Time: When DST begins and ends in your locale.

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EN BASIC SETUP

Setup Wizard: Account Configuration

Account Configuration
Here you can change the default password of the
Admin account. For on-going protection against
unauthorized access, we strongly suggest setting a
new password for your Admin account.
User Name: The DVRs default administration
account, which is always called Admin. You cant
change the Admin user name.
Password: The password youd like to be associated
with the Admin account. A password can be between
1 and 8 characters in length, and consists of numbers
only (no letters or symbols). The default password
thats masked on screen is 12345.
Confirm Password: Re-enter the password to
ensure accuracy.
Level: This field is greyed out because the Admin
account always has the highest level of access. There are two additional access levels available - Guest and Operator.
Enable Password: Select this if you want to be prompted for the user accounts password when accessing the main menu. This
adds an extra layer of authentication on your DVR

BASIC SETUP
Display wizard when booting up (checkbox): Select this if you want the DVR to automatically run the configuration wizard when

it boots up. You can also run the wizard at any time by clicking the icon on the DVR menu bar.

Default Password Information

To ensure your privacy, this DVR supports password protection.
The default, all-access username is admin. If the DVR asks you to log in before youve set a password, enter admin as
your username and leave the password blank. This will give you access to all areas of the DVR.
The password function is disabled by default. However, if youre asked for a password, the default is 12345.
To ensure your ongoing privacy, we strongly recommend setting a password as soon as possible. Choose something that
youll remember, but that others would be unlikely to guess.
If you do manage to lock yourself out of the DVR, youll need to contact us at the Swann Technical Support Telephone
Helpdesk - the number is on the back cover.

Finishing the Setup Wizard

When you click Finish, the DVR will update and save your settings. It may reboot while doing so.

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 EN BASIC SETUP

Setting up your Smartphone or Tablet

Have a Smartphone or Tablet?
Then head to the respective Apple App Store or Google Play, download the SwannView Link app (or SwannView Link HD for
tablets) for free and turn your iOS or Android device into a monitoring centre for your DVR. Have the peace of mind that you can
monitor your home at any time from any place. With SwannLink Peer to Peer technology, connecting your smartphone, tablet
or PC to your DVR is so easy - theres practically no need to fiddle around with complicated network configuration. Best of all, it
only takes minutes to get it all up and running!

Important Note: As the SwannView Link app is constantly under development to improve your user experience, the
following screens may differ slightly from the actual app.

Configuring the SwannView Link App

After you have downloaded and installed SwannView Link (HD) on your smartphone or tablet, locate the app and tap the icon to
run. Take your smartphone/tablet to your DVR and follow the instructions below.

1. In the Live View screen, tap at the top left and then tap .

2. In the Devices menu, tap + to add a new Device as shown below.

BASIC SETUP

3. On the DVR you will see a sticker with a QR Code and your UID number (the sticker will be on the top or bottom of the DVR
case depending on which DVR model you have).
On the app, tap the QR Code button and use your smartphones camera to scan the QR sticker on the DVR. This
automatically populates the UID box with the DVRs UID. Enter a Device Name (anything you like), the username and
password for your DVR as shown below and tap to save your settings.

4. Next, tap to automatically check the number of channels and then you will see your cameras on screen and
thats it, youre connected!

Need more details?

Full explanation of the SwannView Links app interface is detailed in the Reference chapter from page 57 to page 58.

16
EN BASIC SETUP

Setting up your PC
SwannView Link Software
Your DVR comes with powerful remote access and interface
software, called SwannView Link. You can setup and configure
almost all aspects of the DVR from the SwannView Link interface.
The SwannView Link software will allow you to:
view images from your DVR in real-time,
playback recorded footage,
copy footage to your local PC and
adjust settings and configure the DVR.
In fact, the SwannView Link software is so powerful, you dont
even need to connect a monitor to the DVR if theres a computer
on the local network that youre running SwannView Link on.
For quick and easy configuration of the DVRs settings,
recording quality and schedule, we suggest using the remote
interface in SwannView Link.

How to install SwannView Link:

Insert the included CD into your computer.

BASIC SETUP
Click the SwannView Link PC Monitoring Software button
from the Software Installation Menu to begin installation.
You may be asked by UAC (User Account Control) to allow
SwannView Link to make changes to your system. Select
Allow or Continue.
Youll see an installation wizard. Simply follow the prompts
to install the software.
Once the SwannView Link software is installed, it should
automatically detect your DVR on your network.

Minimum PC Requirements:
2.0GHz or faster CPU (Dual-core recommended)
1GB or more RAM (2GB recommended)
10/100Mbps Network (1000Mbps recommended)
Internet connection (512kbps+ recommended)
1024x768 resolution (1280x720 recommended)

Supported Operating Systems

Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Windows Vista,
Microsoft Windows 7 and Microsoft Windows 8
NOTE: Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8
are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

Got a Mac?
Check out www.swann.com/myDVRmac
for the latest Mac-based remote access software.

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 EN BASIC SETUP

Setting up your PC
Logging on to SwannView Link
To connect from your PC to your DVR, make sure your DVR is on and
all connections are ok.
On your PC, open the email that your DVR sent when you were
setting up your email account during the Setup Wizard which should
look something like this image and locate the the UID:

Copy the UID (highlight the text - right click with your mouse and
click Copy). In this example, start with the X and end with the T then paste it into the field marked UID as shown above
right.
Then, enter your Username (the default of admin is already entered) and Password (default is 12345), then click Login.
After a few seconds, you will see your cameras live on your PC.
BASIC SETUP

Main Stream or SubStream?

Each video feed of the DVR is comprised of two components, the Main Stream and the SubStream. Main Stream is the higher
quality of the two streams, and is what youll see on the DVR itself or via a local network. Substream is a fraction of the Main
Stream, and what youll see over the Internet or via a mobile device. Typically, the Substream will be of significantly lower
quality and bitrate than the Main Stream.

SwannView Link Interface

After you successful log on to SwannView Link, you will see the following screen:

Preview / Playback / Setup

Image Controls
Channel List

Main Viewing
Area

Playback and Viewing Modes

Backup Links & Volume Control

Need more details?

Full explanation of the SwannView Links software interface and remote configuration options are detailed in the Reference
chapter from page 51 to page 56. SwannView Links software interface is functionally very similar to the DVRs menu
system, and youll find more detailed information about all menu options and settings there.

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 EN BASIC SETUP

Live View Mode

The Live View Screen
Live View is the default display mode for the DVR. Each camera thats connected to the DVR will be displayed here. You can
check the status and operate your DVR and cameras with the icons and menus on the Live View screen.

Status Icons

BASIC SETUP
Menu Bar

Status Icons
Information on the DVR and camera status is displayed as icons on the Live View screen. Each camera will show its own status
icons. Icons are there to give you a quick snippet of whats going on with your cameras - whether your camera has detected
motion or even when your camera is having a connectivity issue. The following is a guide of what each icon represents:

The camera icon indicates that this camera is currently recording. This icon will be the same whether the recording
was scheduled, initiated manually or triggered by motion (though the motion icon will also be present if theres
motion detected).

The motion icon indicates that the DVR is detecting motion coming from this camera. It doesnt necessarily mean its
recording (the camera icon will be there, too, if thats the case!).

Video Loss indicates that the channel displaying this has lost the feed from its camera. This may be caused by a
disconnected/damaged cable, the camera may have lost power, the camera may have been de-registered from
the channel or the video standard might be wrong (PAL/NTSC).
If you see this icon on-screen (itll be lurking in the lower right corner by default) it indicates that something has
gone wrong. Click the icon to access the Event Log where youll get more information about exactly what has gone
wrong.

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 EN BASIC SETUP

Live View Mode

Menu Bar
To open, right click with the mouse on the Live View screen.

Opens the main menu.

Runs the initial startup wizard.

A B C D E F G H I J
A Single Camera View: Shows images from one camera in full-screen.
B Four-Camera (2 x 2) View: Divides the screen into four viewing windows.
C Next Camera(s): Displays the next set of channel(s) in the current screen mode
D Start/Stop Tour: Starts/Stops auto-channel sequencing at every specific interval (called Dwell Time)
E PTZ Control: Opens the PTZ control window.
BASIC SETUP

F Digital Zoom: Displays the selected video channel in full screen and shows the Digital Zoom control panel.
G PIP: Picture-in-picture. Allows you to view two channels at once, with one full screen and the other as a small overlay.
H Manual Record: Displays the Manual Record screen.
I Playback: Displays the Search: Playback menu.
J Audio On/Off: Enables or disables the audio function of the DVR.

About 960H Widescreen Videos

720 960H is the term used for a composite video signal which
offers additional horizontal lines of resolution. The additional
horizontal space creates a significantly larger and sharper
image, and also allows for higher dynamic range.
If you connect traditional CCTV cameras to the DVR, then the
DVR will automatically upscale the image to make use of all
480 (NTSC) the available screen. This will allow for higher quality videos
576 (PAL)
than would otherwise be vailable - particularly for 700TVL+
cameras - but will warp the image to appear a little wider
Standard Definition than it should be.
Composite Video If you do wind up with a recording at the wrong aspect ratio,
Aspect ratio of 4:3 this isnt a disaster. Youll still be able to clearly see details
and identify individuals, up to the limits imposed by the
camera itself.
960
The correct aspect ratio can easily be applied using a media
player such as VLC. Just backup your footage as an AVI, play it
back on a PC and select the appropriate aspect ratio (16:9 for
960H cameras and 4:3 for standard CCTV).

480 (NTSC)
576 (PAL)

960H
Widescreen Video
Aspect ratio of 16:9

20
EN BASIC SETUP

Menu Layout
Camera
Display
Output

Encode
Recording
Option

Schedule

Playback
Search
Backup

Event / Log

DDNS
General

BASIC SETUP
Network Email Settings
Advanced
NTP
Status
Menu Bar IP Filter

Motion
Alarm
Video Loss

Exceptions

HDD
Device
S.M.A.R.T

PTZ

General
System
User

Information

Maintenance

Lock

Shut Down Shutdown

Reboot

21
 Chapter

3
Menu Functions

22
EN MENU FUNCTIONS

Overview
This chapter consists of a guide to performing common and advanced functions
through the menus in the DVR system; a How To... guide. We recommend that you
read the previous chapter, Chapter 2 - Basic Setup, to complete the Setup Wizard to
get your DVR up and working and become familiar with operating the DVR in Live
View mode before continuing with this chapter.

By Default... Quick Reference

The DVR has motion recording enabled on every channel, Some of the more common reasons to have a look in this
configured to operate at an average level of sensitivity. chapter include:
To be a little more likely to record an border-line motion
event than not (we think its better to get a false trigger Altering the Recording Schedule
than miss an event). The recording schedule is one of the most important things to
To record video each time it detects a motion event, but get right when configuring the DVR. More information about
not notify you via email (all events will be listed in the log). the schedule can be found at:
Recording: Schedule on page 28.
To alter the DVRs default behavior, youll need to change some
settings in the menus.
You can do this by using either the DVRs built-in interface or Searching for Recordings
SwannView Link PC software (for details, see SwannView There are number of ways to search for recordings. You can
Link: Device Settings on page 53. search by channel, recording type, time period or event. To
learn more, look at:
Search: Playback on page 29.
Search: Event / Log Search on page 32.

MENU FUNCTIONS
Configuring the Auto-Email Functions
If you want the DVR to notify you via email when it detects a
motion event, then youll need to configure:
Network: Advanced: Email Settings on page 36.
Alarm: Motion Detection - Action on page 41.

Altering the Motion Detection Settings

If you want to change the way the DVR handles motion, then
youll need to look at:
Alarm: Motion on page 38.
Alarm: Motion Detection Configuration on page 39.

Controlling a PTZ Device

If you got your PTZ camera as part of a kit with the DVR, then
there shouldnt be much configuration required. Follow the
instructions in your Swann PTZ Camera manual.
If the PTZ camera did not come with the DVR, then you can
find information about configuring settings for a PTZ Camera
at:
Device: PTZ on page 44.

23
 EN MENU FUNCTIONS
Display: Camera
Camera No.: Choose the channel you want to edit here.
The Camera No is the same thing as the number written on
the rear panel next to the BNC socket used to connect the
camera.
Camera Name: Enter a name for the camera youve selected.
By default, all channels are named as the Camera No. field,
but this can be set to anything youd like up to 16 characters.
Display Camera Name: When checked, the name youve
entered for the camera/channel will be displayed on-screen
as an overlay.
Record Date: When checked, the date (as displayed) will be
recorded directly on to your videos. This can be useful, as it
creates an inseparable record of exactly when the footage
MENU FUNCTIONS
was captured.
OSD Display Position: Gives you access to a screen where you
can easily set the exact positions of any overlaid text, such as
the camera name and the date and time.
Simply select any item you want to move (such as the Channel
Name and/or the Date and Time) and click and drag it to the
position youd like it to be.
To exit the OSD Display Position screen, press the right click
button. A context menu will appear with two options: Save and
Exit. To exit without saving, simply choose Exit. If you want to
save your changes, choose Save first.
Image Settings: Gives you access to image adjustment tools,
allowing you to adjust the way the DVR interprets and displays
video images. See opposite for more information.
The Image Settings you choose will affect your
recorded footage. Rather than applying the changes
after the video has been processed (like many older
DVRs) the Image Settings affect how the DVR decodes
the video it is receiving from the cameras.
24
The Display: Camera menu is where
you can make adjustments to how the
DVR displays the feed coming from your
cameras.
You can adjust aspects of each channel/
camera, such as:
the cameras name
what information will be displayed on-
screen, and where this information will
be displayed
whether information such as the date
will be recorded directly onto your
videos
any areas of the video you want
masked - that is, left blank
Brightness: Changes how light the image appears to be.
However, it cant make the camera see further in the dark, or
increase the clarity of an ill-lit image.
Contrast: Increases the difference between the blackest black
and the whitest white in the image. Useful if sections of the
image grey out but setting the contrast too high will degrade
image quality.
Saturation: Alters how much color is displayed in the image.
The higher the saturation, the more bright and vivid colors
will appear to be. Again, setting this too high can degrade
image quality.
Hue: Changes the color mix of the image (this can have very
dramatic results). Its somewhat like moving through a
rainbow.
Remember: Your image settings will affect your recordings!
You can use the Image Settings to help fine-tune your Motion
Detection sensitivity. At night, your cameras images may
seem to flicker slightly, or to have increased noise. In video,
noise is random fluctuations of pixels, a little like an old
television that is not set to a station, often called static.
By tweaking the Brightness and the Contrast you can eliminate
much of this video noise, increasing the quality of your images
and the accuracy of the Motion Detection.
Mask: When checked, allows you to create, place and shape
a privacy mask which obscures part of the image on the
associated channel.
EN MENU FUNCTIONS
Display: Output
Resolution: The number of little dots that make up an
image. This should be set as high as possible, but equal to
or lower than the maximum resolution your screen/monitor
can display. Things change a little depending on what kind of
monitor youre using, and how its connected.
The DVR has many formats available, in four different aspect
ratios:
Standard (4:3) - 1024 x 768
Standard (5:4) - 1280 x 1024, or 1400 x 1050
Widescreen (16:10) -1280 x 800, 1440 x 900, or 1680 x 1050
Widescreen (16:9) - 1280 x 720 (720p), 1600 x 900,
or 1920 x 1080 (1080p)
Note: 1280 x 1024 and 1400 x 1050 are considered standard
aspect ratios, and are best displayed on monitors with
anamorphic pixels. Anamorphic is a fancy term for not quite
square.
Most televisions are 16:9 widescreen. Computer monitors are
still commonly produced in multiple aspect ratios, with 4:3,
16:9 and 16:10 being the most popular aspects.
Standard Monitor via VGA: Use one of the 4:3 formats to
correctly align the DVRs output on your screen. Using a
widescreen format will stretch the image vertically.
Widescreen Monitor via VGA: If possible, use the widescreen
(16:9 or 16:10) format. If your monitor cant display those
resolutions, you might need to enable letter-boxing on your
monitor and use a 4:3 format.
PC Monitor via HDMI: Choose a format appropriate for your
monitor. If its a widescreen, use a widescreen format. Set to
the highest option that is equal to or less than the screens
maximum resolution.
Widescreen Plasma/LCD HDTV via HDMI: The resolution
should be set to the maximum your television can process not
display. Typically, this will be 1080p, as even screens which
dont have that many pixels can still display the image, just
with less detail. Check your televisions documentation to
learn this value. If your television cant display 1080p, then
use 720p instead.
Transparency: You can set the DVRs menus to be partially
transparent (see-though) - in case you need to keep an eye on
things while adjusting settings. The best way to set this is to
simply experiment over time and see what works for you.
The Display: Output menu is where you can
control how the DVR is going to deliver an
image to your television, screen or monitor.
Youll be able to adjust items such as:
screen resolution and position on your
monitor
the audio output
the appearance of the menus
the auto-sequence dwell time
the sensitivity of the USB mouse
Mouse Sensitivity: How sensitive the mouse will be. On
lowest, large and dramatic arm movements are required to
move the mouse but a few inches onscreen. At the other end
of the spectrum, a tiny bump or knock can send the cursor
from one side of the screen to the other. Try somewhere
around the lower end for starters, and then increase it little
by little if its moving too slowly.
Dwell Time: How long channels will be displayed when using
auto-sequence mode.
Audio: Whether the DVR will output an audio signal. When
checked, the DVR will output audio to a compatible device (via
the HDMI [see note below] or the RCA Audio Output). When
unchecked, the DVR will not output an audio signal at all.
MENU FUNCTIONS
Audio via HDMI
If you want to send audio via the HDMI, then youll need
to use a standard HD resolution. This is due to the way
that HDMI embeds audio information around video
information.
The two resolutions that will stream audio correctly
are 720p (1280 x 720) and 1080p (1920 x 1080).
Selecting any other resolution will prevent audio being
sent via HDMI.
Border Adjustment: Changes the size and position of the
DVRs images on the screen. Altering the border size can be
useful if youve got parts of the DVRs image extending beyond
the part of the screen you can see.
The border adjustment is more likely to be required for older,
CRT computer monitors connected via the VGA output. HDMI
should (in theory) automatically adjust the DVRs image to
perfectly fit your screen.
25
 EN MENU FUNCTIONS
Recording: Encode
Camera No.: The camera feed you want to alter the settings
for. These are numbered sequentially, and correspond to the
BNC video inputs labelled on the rear of the DVR.
Encoding Parameters (advanced user option): Whether
youre editing the parameters for the mainstream or the
substream.
Main Stream: The main stream is the video feed that the
DVR will record and display. This is the higher-quality
stream.
Sub stream: The sub stream is the video stream that
the DVR will send to remote devices via a network or the
Internet. It is the lower-quality stream as a reduction in
video size makes it easier to send over a network.
MENU FUNCTIONS
Record Audio: Choose whether the channel youve selected
will record audio or not. If you dont have any audio devices
connected, its a good idea to disable audio, as it will save
some space on your HDD.
Resolution: How many little dots are going to make up your
image. There are two options available:
960H: Encode recordings at (PAL: 960 x 576, NTSC: 960 x 480)
resolution. As noted in About 960H Widescreen Videos on
page 20, a standard CCTV cameras image will be slightly
stretched horizontally when recorded by the DVR.
D1: About the same resolution as a DVD (704 x 480 for NTSC,
or 704 x 576 for PAL). This is the default resolution for all
channels, and we suggest leaving this setting well alone.
Frame Rate: The number of frames per second (fps) that the
DVR will record. The default (and maximum) is referred to as
real-time and is 30fps (NTSC) or 25fps (PAL).
Reducing the number of frames per second will not save hard
drive space but potentially will improve the data-rate per
frame (depending how you set the bitrate - see the next point).
Remember that your FPS count is the same as saying take
X photographs per second (where X is your FPS setting).
26
The Recording: Encode menu allows you to
alter and customize how the DVR records
footage and encodes the files.
Encoding is a term which refers to the
compression algorithm (a fancy computer
term for make the file smaller while retaining
visual quality) used by the DVR.
You can choose and alter:
the resolution (per channel),
the frame rate (how many images per
second the DVR records)
the data-rate of each video stream. The
higher the data rate, the better your
images will look, but the more space
theyll require on your HDD
5fps doesnt sound like much, but its still five individual
photographs per second. If maintaining image clarity while
reducing HDD consumption is your priority, it makes sense to
lower the frame rate.
Max. BitRate(Kbps): The actual amount of data that the DVR
uses to record video. The higher the bitrate, the more space
each recording takes up on the hard disk. Generally speaking,
recordings encoded at higher bitrates will be ofbetter quality,
especially when recording movement.
The main stream uses a variable bitrate to record video - the
more movement occurs in the video, the higher the bitrate
will have to be. When theres little movement in view, the DVR
will automatically reduce the bitrate to conserve HDD space.
If the amount of movement in a recording would require a
higher bitrate to accurately record than what youve selected
as the maximum, the DVR will attempt to preserve as much of
the quality as possible by applying compression to the image.
This compression will take the form of irregular, fuzzy blocks
over segments or the entire image. If you encounter this, it
indicates that you might need to increase the overall bitrate.
If youve set a high bitrate but a low frame rate, the DVR will
still use all the data it can, resulting in potentially higher
quality per frame than at higher frame rates.
The sub stream uses a constant bitrate. This makes the video
easier to stream over a network or the Internet.
Note: Both the main stream and the sub stream are always
operating - in fact, the sub stream forms part of the main
stream. The options will affect the output quality of each
stream, but wont change which one is being used in different
circumstances.
EN MENU FUNCTIONS

Recording: Option

The Recording: Option menu lets you change some aspects of how the DVR will record footage, such as:
whether the DVR will record a short video before events take place,
how long after events take place the DVR will continue to record for,
how the DVR will store and divide long recordings into packs and
whether the DVR will record over old footage to make room for new events.

Overwrite: When enabled, the DVR will record over the files already stored on the hard drive. The DVR will always record over
the oldest files on your hard drive first.
Using the overwrite option is advisable, as the DVR will always be able to record events as they happen. However, it does mean
that youll need to get important events off the HDD before theyre overwritten.
Pre-Record: While Pre-Record is enabled, the DVR will record a few seconds before an event occurs. Its a little like making the
DVR psychic (but not really - its actually just caching a few seconds of video which it adds to event recordings as they occur).

MENU FUNCTIONS
If youre using Motion Detection (recommended) based recording as your primary recording method(s), then its a really good
idea to use Pre-Record - sometimes, if an event is fast enough, it might have left view before the DVR can trigger a recording.
With Pre-Record, theres almost no chance youll miss it.
Post-Record: How long after an event occurs that the DVR will continue to record. It can be very useful - for example, if an
intruder or potential target triggers the motion detection but pauses in view; having post-record enabled will get a much better
look at them. 30 seconds is the recommended length for the post-record setting, but it can be set higher (the options are 1, 2, 5
or 10 minutes) depending on your unique circumstances.
Pack Duration: Pack Duration is a measurement of how long the DVR will record for before splitting the output file into discrete
units. Packs are something like the chapter numbers on a DVD - though the video is broken up into separate units, it will still
play through as one continuous movie (unless interrupted by the schedule or motion detection turning the recording on or off).
If you dont want to worry about setting Pack Durations, you can leave it on the default value; it will make little difference to the
day-to-day running of the DVR.

27
 EN MENU FUNCTIONS
Recording: Schedule
Day
The Recording: Schedule menu enables you to specify when
the DVR records video and under what modes for each channel.
The schedule presented on-screen applies to one channel
only over one whole week. There is a 24-hour timeline for
each day of the week. Each square in the timeline represents
an hour in the 24-hour period.
Use the Copy To functions to quickly assign identical schedule
layouts to multiple days/channels at once.
Be careful when programming your schedule. Its one of the
MENU FUNCTIONS
most important aspects of setting up your DVR, and if its wrong
in any way, it could lead to disastrous complications later.
Copy To (Channel): Located at the base of the screen, with
Default on one side and Apply on the other. This allows you to
copy the schedule from the channel youre editing to another
channel or channels.
Recording Modes
By default, all channels are armed to use Motion
Detection as their recording mode.
There are three types of recording to choose from.
Normal (Blue): The DVR will constantly record for any period.
You wont miss anything, but constant recording will fill your
hard drive very quickly. (The DVR does record the equivalent
of a DVD film every two hours on every channel, so thats
rather a lot of data!) Typically, we suggest Motion as a better
recording mode for most users.
Motion (Green): The recommended recording setting for
most applications. The DVR will only record when it detects
28
This example image shows a
recording schedule defined for a
channel with the DVRs recording
modes. If the DVR was started with
this shedule, the selected channel
(in this case Channel 1) would:
Time
Not record anything from
midnight (00:00) to 6am (06:00).
Record based on Motion from
6am (06:00) until 6pm (18:00).
Record constantly from 6pm
(18:00) until midnight (00:00).
Recording Mode
something moving in front of a camera, and will then only
record footage from the camera(s) that do detect motion
unless you alter your Action settings (see Alarm: Motion on
page 38) to include other channels.
Before setting any of your schedule to Motion, ensure that
Motion Detection is properly configured for the channel(s)
you want to associate with it. The Action Options for Motion
Detection can affect the way the recording schedule works.
Any adjustments in the Alarm -> Action menus will change
the DVRs behavior, even if it is set to Motion Recording mode
(see Alarm: Motion Detection - Action on page 41.)
None (White): As the name suggests, the DVR will not record
anything.
To define a schedule:
Select the channel that you want to edit.
To set a recording mode for a specific time and day, click
the corresponding square(s) in the timeline until the
colour changes to your desired recording mode - Blue
(Normal recording), Green (Motion recording) and White
(Not recording).
A quick way to set a specific type of recording over
a large period of time is by clicking on the desired
recording mode below the timeline then clicking and
dragging the mouse over the squares corresponding to
your desired days and times.
To disable the recording schedule for a particular
channel, simply uncheck the Enable box.
EN MENU FUNCTIONS

Search: Playback

To initiate playback:
Select the channel youd like to playback. Note: The DVR can playback up to 4 channels at a time.
From the Video Type menu, select the type(s) of video youd like to playback. The options are Manual, Schedule, Motion and
All.
Set your Start Date/Time and your End Date/Time.
If you want to see a graphical representation of when recordings were made and what recording mode triggered them,
choose Details.
Select Search.

MENU FUNCTIONS
Choose which event(s) you want to play back, and up to four cameras youd like to view the video(s) from.
To initiate playback, select Play.

Performance and Playback

When playing back multiple channels at once, you may notice that theyre not quite in sync and, in extreme cases, may be
displayed in near real-time (instead of real-time).
Why?
The DVR only has so much processing power, and weve configured it so that it has more resources dedicated to recording than
to playback.
While youre playing back footage, the DVR continues to monitor and record normally. Recording from up to four channels
simultaneously is so resource intensive that playback performance may be sacrificed to ensure ongoing reliable recording.

The Video Search Details

Recordings for the selected day are shown per
channel by time.
Each recording is color-coded to match the
recording mode the DVR was using at the time.

29
 EN MENU FUNCTIONS

The Playback Interface

MENU FUNCTIONS

The Playback interface is quite similar to a computers media
player, or to the on-screen display of a DVD/Blu-ray player.
Most of the controls are quite straight forward, and operate in
the same way as a standard media player.
Current Position: A basic progress meter. You can click to
move the current position icon to quickly scan through video
events.
Volume Control: Alters the output volume of playback.
Cut & Copy: Used to mark a Start Point and End Point for
incident backups. Press Cut to mark an start point, and press
Cut again to mark an end point. Press Copy to make a backup
of everything in between. For more detail of the Cut & Copy
commands, see Specific Incident Backup on page 31 for
more details.
Rewind: Reverses the footage.
Play: Plays footage at normal speed.
Pause / Step: Pauses playback but retains still images
on-screen. Subsequent presses will move a single frame
forward in the video. This will usually be 1/30th (NTSC) or
1/25th (PAL) of a second.
Fast-Forward: Speeds up playback.
Slow: Plays back footage at reduced speed. Press multiple
times to further reduce the speed: 1/2 speed, 1/4 speed, 1/8th
speed, 1/16th speed and so on.
Recording Type: Whether the video being played back was
recorded under normal recording (blue) or based on motion
event (red).
Hide Console: Maximizes the area on-screen for playing back
your footage by hiding the on-screen controls.
Exit Playback: Leaves the playback interface and returns to
the live viewing mode.
Playback Limitations
While youre playing back footage, the DVR continues to
monitor and record normally.
Simultaneously recording and playing back footage from many
channels at once is extremely resource intensive. If the DVR is
simultaneously recording/monitoring multiple channels and
playing back multiple channels at once, there may be a slight
reduction in performance from realtime to near-realtime.

30
EN MENU FUNCTIONS

Specific Incident Backup

Cut Copy
Say youve got an hour of video recorded as a single pack, and
the interesting bit is from 33:12 to 33:26. Were sure you dont
want to copy and convert the whole hour for those precious 14
seconds. So, there is a better way!
Shown above is the Playback Control Interface, explained
in more detail in the previous page (see The Playback
Interface on page 30). Were going to discuss the functions
of two buttons only, the Cut button and the Copy button.
Note: These dont work quite the same way they do on a
computer! Those familiar with a video editor might recognize
the function of the Cut button as being similar to the Mark In/
Out function.
Cut: Marks the Start Point and End Point for a specific
incident backup.
Press once to mark an start point at the current position
marker. Typically, this will be immediately before the incident
you want to copy.
Let the video play past the incident you want to save, and then
press Cut again to mark the end point.
Pressing Cut a third time will erase the previous start/end
points and begin the process again.
Copy: Initiates a backup of everything between the start and
end points. Youll see the backup dialog shown above, but with
only a single video listed.
If there is no start point marked, the backup will commence
from the start of the timeline. If no end point is marked, the
backup will continue until the end of the current timeline.

Search: Backup
To backup footage:
Connect a USB flash drive or a USB hard drive
(HDD) to the USB Port on front of the DVR.
Choose the camera(s) you want to backup
footage from.

MENU FUNCTIONS
From the Video Type menu, select the type(s)
of video you want to backup.
Set your Start Time and End Time.
Select Backup.

Note: The USB Ports are used for backing up

footage, or connecting the USB mouse. If you
want to use an external drive to record live video
footage, use the eSATA port on the rear of the DVR.

The Backup File List

Displays a list of all the video events between the start and
end times youve selected. All the ticked files will be part of
the backup. Click Next to continue.
Refresh: Looks for devices to which footage can be backed
up to. This will include USB flash drives or hard drives
connected to the front USB port.
AVI Format File: When checked, the DVR will transcode
the footage into a file format that can be played back on a
computer.
About transcoding to AVI:
Dont be put off by the complex word - transcoding is just
a shortening of translating code. Transcoding, while a
straight-forward process, is very processor intensive.
You may notice significant slow-down (or apparent non-
responsiveness) on your DVR while the transcoding takes
place.

31
 EN MENU FUNCTIONS

Search: Backup
While the backup process is executed, the DVR will display a pair of
progress meters. The top one indicates the progress of the current video
event, the lower one shows the overall progress.
To end the backup process before its complete, choose Cancel. Some or all
of the incidents you selected will not have been copied. While backing up,
particularly when transcoding to AVI, the DVR might take a few moments
to register that youve selected Cancel.
Note that, while the backup is in progress the DVR will be inoperable
locally. It will continue recording and monitoring, but wont respond to the
mouse being moved or buttons being pressed (at least, not quickly - cut it
some slack, its working really, really hard).
Youll still be able to access the DVR remotely via the SwannView Link
software. However, due to the system requirements of backing up footage,
the DVRs performance might be reduced.
Backing up footage can be a slow process - doubly so when transcoding to
AVI. If youre backing up more than a few minutes footage at a time, youve
got time to make a cup of coffee, maybe call a friend or catch up on some
TV. Seriously, it can take a while - talk to any video editor about transcoding
and theyll tell you it takes a long time.

Search: Event / Log Search

The Event Search menu shows you recordings
that were triggered by the DVR detecting motion.
Typically, the majority of recordings based upon
Events are likely to be recordings triggered by
the DVRs motion detection feature.
MENU FUNCTIONS

The search function operates in the same way as

the main playback search: the only difference is
youll select an Event Type rather than a Video
Type.

The Log Search displays a list of events,

presented in chronological order: the most
recent events will be at the end of the list.
The Log lists all events that the DVR
monitored, whether or not any footage was
recorded as a result.

32
EN MENU FUNCTIONS
Network: General
Network Access: Here you can choose between the three
different types of networks that the DVR can be connected to.
The three types of networks are:
DHCP: DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) is a
system where one device on your network (usually a router)
will automatically assign IP addresses to devices connected
to the network.
STATIC: Static networks require all devices to have their IP
addresses manually defined, as there is no device dedicated
to automatically assigning addresses.
PPPoE: An advanced protocol that allows the DVR to be more
directly connected via a DSL modem. This is an option for
advanced users only.
IP Address: Just as houses and businesses need to have an
address which identifies their location on the road network,
so too do computers and other devices need addresses
(called IP ADDRESSES) to identify their position on the
electronic network. The DVR uses IPv4 addressing, which
consists of four groups of numbers between 0 and 255,
separated by periods. For example, a typical IP address might
be 192.168.1.24 or something similar. The most important
thing when setting the IP address is that nothing else on your
network shares that IP address.
Subnet Mask: If the IP address is like a street address, then a
subnetwork is like your neighborhood. This will be formatted
in a similar way to the IP address (i.e. four numbers up to 255
separated by periods) but contain very different numbers. In
the above example, the Subnet Mask might be something like:
255.255.255.0.
Default Gateway: This is the address of the way to the
Internet - to continue the road analogy, this is like your local
access point to the highway. This is an IP address in the same
format as the others, and is typically very similar to the IP
address of the DVR. To continue the above examples, it might
be something such as: 192.168.1.254.
Auto DNS / Static DNS: Choose how youd like to define your
DNS servers. We recommend leaving it on Auto unless youve
got a specific reason not to.
MENU FUNCTIONS
Auto DNS: The DVR will automatically choose a DNS server.
This is the recommended setting.
Static DNS: If you need to manually define a DNS server, then
choose Static DNS. This is recommended for advanced users
only.
Preferred DNS Server: Domain Name System.
Everything on the Internet is located via an IP address
- however, for ease of use, we associate domain names
(such as
www.exampledomainname.com) with those IP
addresses. This index is accessible in many locations online,
and we call those locations DNS servers.
DNS for STATIC configuration: Under most circumstances,
you can set the DNS Server address to be the same address
as your router (this is usually the same address as Gateway).
DNS for DHCP configuration: Typically, the DNS Server
address will automatically be detected by the DVR. In some
cases, youll need to enter a value - the address of your router
(the same as the Gateway) should work.
Alternate DNS Server: A backup DNS server. This is here as
a redundancy - your DVR will probably work without one.
MAC Address: The Media Access Control address. This is
a unique code which nothing else should share. You cant
change this one - its pre-set when the DVR ships out.
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Network: Advanced
Note: Many of the following networking settings are not
required when using SwannLink P2P for remote access.
DDNS: The place to configure the DVR to automatically update
a dynamic DNS service. DDNS is not required for SwannLink
P2P remote access. If you intend to access your DVR using
older IP technology you will need to configure this service.
See Network: Advanced: DDNS on page 35 for details on
setting up and configuring the DDNS.
MENU FUNCTIONS
NTP: Network Time Protocol. If youve got the DVR connected
to the Internet, you can have it automatically sync time with an
online server.
Email Settings: Where you can configure the DVR to work
with an email account of your choice. This must be correctly
configured for the DVRs auto-email feature to work. For more
information, see Network: Advanced: Email Settings on
page 36.
IP Filter: An advanced feature which allows you to exercise
precise control over what devices/IP address(es) are allowed to
communicate with the DVR and which are not. Recommended
for advanced users only.
Server Port: This is the port that the DVR will use to send
information through. The most important things are:
Youll need to enable UPnP on your router so your router can
selectively open these ports, allowing the DVR to communicate
via the Internet. If your router doesnt support UPnP, you have
two options. You can either get a new router (which wed
actually recommend - UPnP is such a good feature!) or you
can manually forward ports from the router to the DVR. Port
forwarding is a technical and involved process, recommended
only for the technically inclined.
Nothing else uses this port. The default port number is 9000,
which is not used by many other devices/programs. However,
particularly if you have another DVR or DVR-like device,
something might be using this port already. If this is the case,
change this value to be unique.
HTTP Port: This is the port through which you will be able to
log in to the DVR.
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Like the server port, it will need to be forwarded properly
in order to ensure smooth, latency-free communication.
The default value is 85, as this port is seldom used by
other devices or applications. If there is another device on
your network using this port, youll need to change it to
be unique.
This is the port number youll need to remember when
logging in remotely from a remote PC via the HTTP
interface.
What port number(s) should I use?
If the default port numbers are in use (85 and/or 9000) then the
simplest solution is just to keep adding one until you find a port
which is not in use. So, if 85 is already taken, try 86 or 87.
Theres no right port number(s) to use - any port number will
work provided the DVR is the only device using it. For this reason,
avoid using port numbers 80, 81, 82, 88 , 90, and 99 as these are
often used by other devices/programs/protocols.
UPNP enable (This feature is not required if you are using
SwannLink P2P to access the DVR): UPnP makes configuring
your network easier and faster. To use the UPnP setting on
the DVR, youll need a router which supports this feature, with
UPnP enabled. Note that many routers which do support UPnP
do not come with the feature enabled by default. You may need
to ask your Internet service provider to turn it on.
When UPnP is enabled on your DVR and your router, the Ports
that the DVR requires to be open for access to and from the
Internet will automatically be opened and closed as necessary
by your router, saving you the trouble of manually forwarding
these ports. If UPnP is not enabled, or your router does not
support this feature, youll need to forward the ports the DVR
uses from the router to the DVR - since this is a technically
challenging process, we strongly recommend using UPnP if
possible.
UID: The DVRs Unique IDentifier code for P2P. For convenience,
you can have this code sent to your email account by clicking
the Send Email button(provided that youve already set up your
email account).
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Network: Advanced: DDNS
How do I deal with a dynamic IP address?
One option is to contact your ISP and request a static IP
address. Theyll usually charge a small fee for doing this. Its
worth noting that not all ISPs offer static IP addresses.
If your ISP does not offer static IP addresses then you can use
a dynamic referencing service. We provide one free of charge.
We recommend using SWANNDVR as your DNS service.
This is a free service for Swann DVR owners, which we
directly support.
To create an account with SWANNDVR, go to:
http://www.swanndvr.com/
and click the Registration button.
Follow the prompts to create your account.
DDNS is not required for SwannLink P2P remote
access. If you intend to access your DVR using older IP
technology you will need to configure this service.
Network: Advanced: NTP
Static and Dynamic
IP Addresses
In much the same way as your home
network can use static or dynamic IP
addresses, many Internet providers
dont issue (or charge more for) a static
IP address for users. The easiest way to
find out is to contact your Internet service
provider. Alternately, you can access the
www.whatismyip.com service, make a
note of your IP, then reboot your router/
gateway. This should refresh your Internet
connection. If your IP address changes,
you have a dynamic IP address. If it stays
the same, you may have a static IP - contact
your ISP to confirm.
DDNS Type: Choose the server that youre using. We
recommend SwannDVR - youcan sign up for your free account
at www.swanndvr.net.
Device Domain Name: Enter the host name that you set up in
your DDNS service. This is the address you use to access your
network. For example: yourhostname.swannDVR.net
Username and Password: Enter the username and password
you setup with your DDNS server. These do not have to match
your username/password combination in either your DVR
or router (for the sake of security, we suggest making them
different).
For SwannDVR users: Your username is the email address
you used to register the account. The password is whatever
MENU FUNCTIONS
you selected when you registered.
Test: To check if the DDNS is working, click the Test button.
After a short delay, a message will be displayed on-screen,
informing you whether the update was successful or not.
If the test is unsuccessful, a message will appear onscreen
informing you that the Update was Unsuccessful. This could
mean theres a problem with your network setup, or theres a
problem with the DDNS Account Name and Password youre
using.
Particularly important if youve enabled NTP - set
this to the time zone where you happen to be. For
example, people in eastern Australia (Canberra,
Sydney and Melbourne) choose GMT+10:00, whilst
the Eastern Time zone in the USA and Canada
is GMT-05:00. (GMT stands for Greenwich Mean
Time - its the baseline that keeps all the different
time zones in sync.)
NOTE: Some NTP servers are NOT fully
compatible with DST (Daylight Savings Time).
This may cause your system to double-count
adding one or removing one more hour than
they should, or cancel each other out. You may
need to intentionally change your time zone to
compensate, or simply not use NTP and DST
simultaneously.
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Network: Advanced: Email Settings
If you want the DVR to occasionally drop
you a line, share news, tell you about
its day and - more importantly - tell you
whats going on around your home or
business as it happens, then you can
configure it to automatically send email
alerts as events happen.
We suggest using Gmail as your email client - its quite easy
to set up an account and use it solely for the DVR. Weve
tested the email procedure with Gmail, and it does work.
Other email servers may not work correctly - many interpret
the procedurally generated email from the DVR as spam and
block the mail from being sent.
For the Auto-Mail function to work correctly, the DVR will need
to be correctly configured with the details of the email servers
and addresses you want to use.
Enable SSL or TSL: Whether the email server youre using
requires a secure link. This is on by default, and should be left
on if youre using any of the preset email servers.
MENU FUNCTIONS
SMTP Server: There are three preset options to choose from,
Gmail (smtp.gmail.com), Windows Live Mail (smtp.live.com)
and Yahoo Mail (smtp.mail.yahoo.com).
Youll need to setup an account with one of these email
providers. All offer free email accounts. To signup, visit the
email providers website:
Gmail (Google): smtp.gmail.com
Yahoo Mail: smtp.mail.yahoo.com
Windows Live Mail (Hotmail): smtp.live.com
The DVR will automatically adjust some settings (such as the
SMTP port number) to make configuration significantly easier.
Other (check-box): This is for user who want to use a different
email server, typically the outgoing email server of their ISP.
If you want to use your ISPs outgoing email, then youll need
to contact your ISP to learn the correct values for the other
fields (such as the correct SMTP server, SMTP port, SSL or TSL
requirements and so on).
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SMTP Port: The SMTP port used by the email provider of your
choice. This field will automatically self-populate if you use
one of the presets.
Sender Address: The address youre sending the email from.
This will be the username youve set up for the email server
youre using, followed by @ and then the email server. For
example: youraddress@gmail.com or similar.
Sender Password: The password for the outgoing email
account.
Recipient Address: The email address you want the DVR
to send emails to. This can be any email address you like,
however, bear in mind that the DVR might send a large number
of automatic emails under certain conditions.
Attach Picture: When this is selected, the DVR will attach a
small image to each email alert (where applicable).
For motion-based email alerts, this will be an image of
whatever triggered the motion detection.
Interval: The length of time that must elapse after the DVR
sends an email alert before it will send another.
Short Interval settings are likely to lead to huge numbers of
alerts being sent by the DVR - perhaps even several emails
for one event (if that one event lasts longer than the interval
setting). On the other hand, a long interval setting might mean
youll miss a specific update that you needed. Theres no right
answer, and youll probably have to fine-tune this setting to get
the results youre after - itll be different for everyones unique
circumstances.
EN MENU FUNCTIONS

Network: Advanced: IP Filter

The IP Filter can be used to modify which IP addresses have permission to talk to the DVR and which do not.
This is an advanced feature, and is recommended for advanced users only. Tinkering with things here - if youre not sure what
youre doing - is more likely to break things than make anything better.

Network: Network Status

MENU FUNCTIONS

The Network Status screen displays a quick summary of your network settings. You cant alter things here - see the General
and Advanced tabs for places to actually alter things.
Note that the values displayed in the image above are examples only. Your network settings may be similar or very different!

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Alarm: Motion
If youre planning to use Motion Detection as
the primary (or sole) recording mode for the
DVR, its worth taking a moment to ensure
its properly configured.
If the motion detection sensitivity is too
sensitive, then the DVR will record too
frequently or continually - any benefit of
motion detection will be lost.
If the motion detection sensitivity is not
sensitive enough, then the DVR will not
record when it should and may not record
anything at all.
We think that motion detection is the best
way to get your DVR to operate almost
autonomously for long periods of time
(typically weeks to months) without you
having to worry about losing old footage.

How Motion Detection Works number of circumstances, such as monitoring one particular
The way that the DVR looks for motion is quite straight door at the end of a busy hallway, or a backyard with a tree
forward - its a process where it compares one frame (that is, that keeps blowing in the wind.
a single image taken approximately a 25th/30th of a second Action: Here you can define what will happen when the
from the previous image) with the next. A certain amount of camera youve selected detects motion.
difference between these two frames is interpreted as Note: If youve used the Copy-To feature to copy from one
motion. camera to another, remember that youll still need to set
As a result, the DVR is able to detect when there is a change the Action for each channel independently - that information
in the picture. However, this does not necessarily need to be isnt copied.
something moving in the frame. For example, a light being
turned on or off, a lightning flash or even the sun coming
out momentarily on a cloudy day might be enough to trigger
the motion detection on the DVR. However, as these events
MENU FUNCTIONS

last only a moment (and are relatively rare) they will only
create a few very short redundant clips, which will not take
up too much space or pose a problem with scanning through
footage.
For a similar reason, dont use PTZ systems and motion
detection simultaneously. The DVR will interpret the camera
moving as motion and record. This is particularly true
when using Cruise Mode - as the camera is moving almost
continually, so too is the DVR recording almost continually!
Here, youll be able to set the motion detection features of
the DVR for each channel. We suggest that motion detection
is, under most circumstances, the most practical recording
method for the DVR to employ.
How it Works: Once motion detection has been enabled for a
channel, it will register to the DVR as a Motion Event. Thus,
you can use the Motion recording mode in the schedule to
trigger the DVR to record when motion detection triggers an
alarm signal.
Enable: Whether or not motion detection is enabled
on a specific channel. Each channel can be configured
independently of one another.
Motion Detection: Click the applicable Set button to setup
the motion detection area for that channel. See Alarm:
Motion Detection Configuration on page 39 for details on
how to do this, and what it means.
Say, for example, you are trying to monitor your front yard,
whilst in the background there is a busy street, and the cars
driving past continually set off the motion detection. What
can you do about it? Setting only part of the cameras view to
be motion sensitive might be the answer. This is useful in a

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Alarm: Motion Detection Configuration
To set the Motion Detection Area
In the MOTION DETECTION menu, use the mouse or the
arrow buttons to highlight the SETUP button for the channel
you wish to setup the MOTION DETECTION AREA for, and
confirm by pressing select or left clicking.
You will see a grid of red boxes. The outlined boxes mark the
area that is sensitive to motion. The area without the red
outlines is not sensitive to motion.
Use the mouse to move the cursor around the screen.
By pressing select or left clicking an area in the grid, you can
toggle motion detection ON or OFF in that location.
Areas marked by red boxes will be sensitive to motion, those
not marked will not be.
Click and drag to select the area you want to select or de-
select.
In the sample image above, a person moving about the
room would trigger the motion detection. However, a person
entering from the right of screen and ascending the staircase
should avoid the motion sensitive area. This is a good solution
to monitor the door (center of image) without getting false
triggers every time someone ascends the stairs.
Sensitivity: The Sensitivity setting is controlled by a slider,
allowing you to set a value between 0 and 50. The lower the
number, the more sensitive the motion detection will be.
There are four time periods which you can define different
motion sensitivity values for.
You can change what time(s) each period starts and ends to
best match the changing lighting conditions in your location.
Typically, values between 5 and 10 will give good results in the
daytime.
At night, you may get numerous false triggers unless you
raise the sensitivity setting, perhaps as high as 25 - 30. This is
because when cameras (particularly CMOS-based ones) use
active infrared night vision, they dramatically increase the
gain controls to the image sensor. This creates a lot of noise
in the cameras images, which are interpreted by the DVR as
motion.
By default, the day is divided into four periods:
00:00 (Midnight) - 06:00 (6:00 AM)
MENU FUNCTIONS
06:00 (6:00 AM) - 12:00 (Midday)
12:00 (Midday) - 18:00 (6:00 PM)
18:00 (6:00 PM) - 00:00 (Midnight)
You might need to shift the beginning and ends of these times
to best suit the time(s) that lighting changes at your location.
The start and end times can be set to anything you like,
provided the different time periods dont overlap and theres
no gap between one ending and the next starting.
Theres no requirement for all four time periods to have
different sensitivity levels, although we suggest that usually
gives the best performance.
To find the best sensitivity values for different times of day/
night, its best to test the system during different time
periods.
Get an able-bodied volunteer to move about in front of the
cameras youd like to tune the sensitivity for. The ideal
sensitivity level is when your volunteer moving about always
triggers the motion detection, but there are no false triggers
(or very few) when your volunteer isnt moving about.
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Alarm: Motion Detection Notes
Motion Detection Recording Setup
Note: PTZ systems are fundamentally incompatible with motion
detection. Avoid enabling motion detection on a channel which
has a PTZ system attached to it - especially when the PTZ system
is set to Cruise Mode.
False Triggers
Setting the motion detection at high sensitivity levels (4 or
lower) increases the frequency of false alarms. On the other
hand, low sensitivity levels (20 or higher) increase the risk
that a significant motion event (such as an intruder) will not
trigger the motion detection to record.
Check the Motion Detection settings both during the day
and at night. In low-light conditions (or when your cameras
are using infrared night vision) the DVR may be more or less
sensitive to motion, depending on your unique circumstances.
The difference might be very dramatic!
Weather
The weather conditions are going to affect your motion
detection. Dramatic weather phenomenon such as heavy
rain, strong winds, lightning and so on, may trigger the
motion detection with surprising frequency.
On the other hand, things like fog, mist and other obscuring
kinds of weather might mask or obscure something moving
to the point that the DVR fails to detect them.
Here are a few steps you can take to minimize the amount of
noise in your images.
Try adjusting the Image Settings (see Display: Camera
MENU FUNCTIONS
on page 24 for details) to fine-tune the brightness and
contrast to get a more stable image.
Limit the motion sensitive area to only the areas in view
that a target could be. In particular, large featureless
areas in the cameras view are the ones most likely to
give false triggers - turning off the motion sensitivity to
any area a target cannot move in front of will help reduce
false triggers.
Note: The motion detection feature will seem more sensitive
at night, particularly when using low-light or active infrared
cameras. We recommend that you test your motion detection
sensitivity both during the day and at night to ensure your
sensitivity setting is suitable for either lighting condition.
Some tips to customizing your motion detection
sensitivity and actions:
Consider how important it is to be notified of motion
events as they happen.
Using the email alerts is a great way to be kept up-to-speed
on whats happening, but may quickly become annoying if
something occurs which will generate a number of false
triggers. As a rule, we suggest employing the email alert
only on interior cameras during times that no one should be
moving about in front of them.
It can be important to have a complete record of a
subjects movements and actions for legal reasons.
If your cameras capture an illegal event (typically an intruder,
but were continually surprised by stories from our users) it is
important to have as much information as possible.
40
For example, images of someone in your home may not
actually prove that they broke in - but footage of them
breaking a window does. If you use a camera inside the home
to trigger all exterior cameras with pre-record enabled, then
you will have a record of how they entered in addition to what
they did.
Always consider whats really important.
Which is the bigger problem - a dozen false triggers per day,
or missing one critical event?
Theres no magic setting which will make motion detection
work perfectly. There will always be some events that its
not sensitive enough to catch, or minor happenings that will
trigger an overly sensitive camera to record. Typically, the
best motion detection settings are ones that give few false
triggers but dont miss anything.
Even motion detection which false triggers a few times per
hour will still save a significant amount of hard drive space
compared with a constant recording schedule for the same
duration.
Position your cameras well.
Many issues seen with motion detection and security
cameras can be traced back to poor positioning of the
camera itself.
Make sure the area in front of your cameras is as clear
as possible so it has and unobstructed view of potential
activity. Consider the center of the camera image is the
sweet spot which gives you the highest detail and the
best image clarity so the center of the image should be
right where you need to see the real activity.
Position you camera so that any potential intruders face
will have to pass the center of the image as closely as
possible without allowing the camera to be tampered
with.
Also note that while having the cameras show some sky
in the image might make the picture look nice it is also a
higher level of contrast the camera has to deal with, keep
the sky and any other bright objects to a minimum so
that the camera has the best chance of getting the image
you need to identify the intruder or licence plate.
Keep the view distance to the shortest possible. Place
the cameras as close to the subject as possible to ensure
you get the best possible level of detail. Digital zoom can
make the image bigger but if the camera is too far away
then no amount of digital zoom will make the subject any
clearer.
Where possible have some overlap for your cameras.
Overlapping camera views make it difficult for someone
to access and tamper with one camera without another
camera capturing some video of the event.
Keep your cameras clean. Dirty lenses can affect the
image quality, give the lens a clean from time to time.
Note that spider webs are almost invisible during the
day but are extremely reflective at night which can
dramatically affect the night vision from your cameras,
so keep the spider webs away from your cameras too.
EN MENU FUNCTIONS

Alarm: Motion Detection - Action

Audio Warning: The DVR will use its internal buzzer to emit
an alarm tone. It sounds like an old computer indicating an
error, or a large truck backing up.
Send Email: The DVR will send an auto-email alert when
the event type youve selected occurs. The Email Settings
button will take you to the same email configuration screen
accessible from the Network menu - see Network:
Advanced: Email Settings on page 36 for details.
Trigger Camera: You can define one cameras motion
detection to trigger recording on one or more other
cameras.
This can be useful in a number of situations. For example:
If you have two cameras overlooking a yard, one with a wide
view from well overhead and one with a much narrower
view of a corner or path. You may find that using the camera with the narrow view for motion detection gives fewer false triggers
and doesnt miss an event as often as the really wide view might, so triggering the wide view to record as well ensures you know
where the subject went after they left the narrow view.
One camera might face a public area, while another camera looks down a private corridor which exits into the public area.
Having the camera in the private area trigger the one in the public area to record can give you a record of where a subject went
after they left the private area, without filling your hard drive with recordings triggered by random passers by.

The Trigger Camera Option will override the recording mode that has been set for the
camera at that particular time that it is triggered for recording.

Alarm: Video Loss

Alarm: Video Loss

MENU FUNCTIONS
Video Loss is regarded as a potential alarm event, and is
considered to occur any time that the DVR doesnt receive an
active video signal on any of its inputs.
The default behaviour of the DVR, when a channel has no
incoming video signal, is simply to display Video Loss in white
text on a black background over the associated channel. If youre
not using all the inputs on your DVR, then some channels will be in
permanent Video Loss state. Just be sure that you dont enable a
video loss action for these channels.
Channel: Which channel/camera youd like to set the Video Loss
behaviour for.
Enable: Whether the selected channel has video loss monitoring
active or not.
Schedule: Alters when the current Video Loss Action will be
active.
Action: The action youd like the DVR to take when this event
occurs. Its set in the same way as the Action for any other event.

Alarm: Video Loss - Action

Audio Warning: The DVR will use its internal buzzer to emit an
alarm tone. It sounds like an old computer indicating an error, or a
large truck backing up.
Send Email: The DVR will send an auto-email alert when the
event type youve selected occurs. The Email Settings button will
take you to the same email configuration screen accessible from
the Network menu - see Network: Advanced: Email Settings on
page 36 for details.

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Alarm: Exception

An Exception is any deviation from the DVRs normal behaviour - phrased another way, its like saying the DVRs been working
fine except for these events
Exception Type: What event type youd like the DVR to react to. By configuring the Action for these events, you can create any
combination of audio alerts (see below) or auto-emails to be sent for different event types.
HDD Full: As the name suggests, this event occurs when the DVR runs out of space on the hard drive to save new footage. This
event is redundant if youve got overwrite enabled, as the DVR will automatically delete old footage to ensure it can continue to
record.
HDD Error: Occurs when the DVR has trouble accessing its hard drive, or when it cannot detect one at all. This error could be
generated by either an internal hard drive, or an external one connected to the eSATA port.
Net Disconnected: Will occur if the DVR has problems connecting to the Internet. This may indicate a problem with the DVRs
MENU FUNCTIONS

configuration, a fault with your network or a problem with your Internet Service Provider (ISP).
IP Conflict: This event will occur if the DVR detects another device on the same network with a conflicting IP address. Its a little
like two houses with the same number being on the same street - one house might get the others mail, or get woken up at all
hours of the night being asked if someone named Big Bob lives there.
Basically, it indicates that two devices are trying to use the same IP address. This shouldnt occur if youre using DHCP
addressing, unless one or more devices is set to use a STATIC IP (the static addressing method overrides the automatic
assignment process).
Audio Warning: The DVR will use its internal buzzer to emit an alarm tone. It sounds like an old computer indicating an error, or
a large truck backing up.
Send Email: The DVR will send an auto-email alert when the event type youve selected occurs.

Show Exception: The DVR will display the icon at the bottom right corner of the main screen when the event type that
youve selected occurs. Click on the icon to access the Event Log and know more about the exception that occured.

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Device: HDD
Typically, there will be one entry here, and
it will be the hard drive that came with the
DVR - youll get many years of usage out of
the included hard drive.
The drive connected to the internal SATA
port will be listed here. A drive connected
via eSATA will appear on this list, and be
useable in the same manner as an internal
HDD.
External drives connected via USB will
not appear on this list, and cant be used to
record footage - USB lacks the bandwidth
to write multiple streams simultaneously.
External USB drives can only be used for
backing up footage.

Device: S.M.A.R.T.

MENU FUNCTIONS

S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology - gotta love a good acronym) is your hard drives way of telling
the DVR how its going.
Status: The current condition of the hard drive. It should say Good. If it says anything else, this indicates theres a problem with
your hard drive.
If theres no problem, theres little else to do here, unless reading the output of the dozens of self-tests the hard drive performs
on itself is of interest to you.
If you have been confronted with a HDD Error, or the Status entry doesnt read Good then you can use the S.M.A.R.T.
information to attempt to diagnose the problem. The information presented in the S.M.A.R.T. report is practically identical to
what youd see on a desktop PC while using Administrator Tools, or a similar service.

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Device: PTZ
Important:
Dont use Motion Detection on
channels with PTZ cameras
attached. The DVR cant tell the
difference between something
moving in front of the camera
and the camera itself moving!

PTZ Settings Accessing the PTZ Controls

This is where you can configure the DVR to be able to operate The PTZ controls can be accessed from the Live Viewing
PTZ devices. PTZ stands for Pan, Tilt & Zoom. screen by choosing the PTZ icon on the menu bar.
The DVR is compatible with many - but not all - PTZ devices
MENU FUNCTIONS

available. For the best results, we suggest using a Swann PTZ Note for Remote Access and Mobile Device users:
camera, as we know what theyre compatible with and well
The PTZ functions of the DVR and compatible cameras can
be able to offer support for both devices at once (should you
be controlled remotely via the SwannView Link software and
need it).
mobile app.
Camera No: The camera youd like to associate a PTZ device
Please note: due to the latency (a fancy word for delay)
with.
caused by streaming so much data over an Internet
Baudrate: Check the PTZ devices documentation to learn connection, there will be a momentary pause between
this value. Most Swann PTZ units operate at 2400 or 9600bps. selecting a direction for the camera to move and it actually
Data Bit, Stop Bit & Parity: Options that subtly change the moving.
way the DVR talks to the device. This is important to get right Typically the delay will be less than one second; however
- check your PTZ devices documentation to learn the correct periods of up to thirty seconds are not uncommon on mobile,
settings. wireless or slow Internet connections.
PTZ Protocol: A protocol is like a language that the DVR uses
to talk to the PTZ device. Ensure that this setting matches the
requirement of your device.
Address (0 - 255): The command address of the PTZ device
you want to associate with this channel.

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Device: PTZ

PTZ Control Window PTZ Context Menu

Arrows: Moves the camera in the direction selected.
Speed: How fast the camera will move. The higher the
number, the faster the movement. Note that the actual
speed of movement will depend upon the capabilities of your
particular PTZ device.
Zoom: Increases or decreases the magnification of a varifocal
Camera No: Switch quickly between cameras.
Call Preset: Returns the camera to a Preset point.
Call Patrol: Initiates a patrol of your choice.
Preset: Defines a Preset point.
Patrol: Initiates or stops a patrol.
PTZ Menu: Toggles the appearance of the PTZ Control Menu

MENU FUNCTIONS
lens. Not all PTZ devices have varifocal lenses.
onscreen. While the PTZ Control Menu is hidden, the DVR will
Focus: Alters the focal point of a PTZ device with a varifocal
still be in PTZ mode, and the context menu can still be opened
lens. Try adjusting this control if your images seem soft or
via right-clicking the interface.
blurry. Not all cameras support this function.
PTZ Settings: Opens the PTZ Settings menu, where you can
Iris: Alters how much light gets into the camera by opening
adjust the control method for the camera.
and closing the iris of the camera. Not all PTZ cameras have
an adjustable iris. Also called an aperture. Not all cameras
support this function.
Preset: A Preset is a position that the camera is in which is
saved to memory to be retrieved later.
Patrol: Initiates patrol mode (also sometimes called cruise
mode). Youll need to define a series of Preset points for the
camera to patrol between.
Exit: Closes the PTZ controls.

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System: General
The System: General menu contains many
of the settings youll need to configure to
get the most out of your DVR system. Most
importantly:
The time and date can be set here.
You can select the language you want
for the menus/GUI.
The configuration for automatic
adjustment to daylight savings time
is here.
You can easily enable or disable
password protection - but will have to
create a valid username/password

Language: The language that the DVRs menus, alerts and other communications will use. This usually defaults to English.
Be careful not to change this setting unintentionally - it might be tricky to find the setting to change it back when the DVR is
speaking another language!
Video Standard: Here you can choose between PAL and NTSC. PAL is used in Western Europe and Australia, NTSC is used in
the US, Canada and Japan. If the DVRs picture is black and white, flickering or similar, then this is probably caused by the video
system being set incorrectly. Dont change this setting unless advised to do so by Swann Technical Support. You may not be
able to see the DVRs output on your screen anymore!
Time Zone: Particularly important if youve enabled NTP - set this to the time zone where you happen to be. For example, people
in eastern Australia (Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne) choose GMT+10:00, whilst the Eastern Time zone in the USA and Canada
is GMT-05:00. (GMT stands for Greenwich Mean Time - its the baseline that keeps all the different time zones in sync.)
MENU FUNCTIONS

Menu Date Format: The format of the date (e.g. DD/MM/YYYY or MM/DD/YYYY and so on).
System Time: This can be edited manually, or set to update automatically by using NTP (see Network: Advanced: NTP on page
35).
DST Setting: As the standards for daylight savings differ from country to country, and often state to state, you might need to
manually tell the DVR exactly when it commences and ends in your locality. First, turn DST on. We suggest setting the Daylight
Saving Time Mode to Date, and manually entering the dates and times that daylight savings time applies to and from, in your
locality.
Note: Some NTP servers are NOT fully compatible with DST. This may cause your system to double-count adding one or
removing one more hour than they should, or cancel each other out. You may need to intentionally change your time zone to
compensate, or simply not use NTP and DST simultaneously.
Enable Password: When enabled, the DVR will require a password to access, even for local users. Its advisable to enable
password protection
Auto Lock Time: When the password protection is enabled, the DVR will automatically time-out, where after it will ask for a
password before returning to normal functioning. The Auto Lock Time determines how long a period of inactivity will cause the
DVR to lock itself again.
Device ID: Differentiates your DVR from other devices. If you dont have any other DVRs or similar devices, then you can leave
this as-is. If youve got multiple DVRs running on the same network, then its a great idea to give each a unique ID.

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System: User
The System: User menu is where you can define
and configure the different levels of access various
users have to the DVR.
We suggest that at minimum the admin account be
password protected, as it has access to all aspects
of the DVRs operation.
To add additional users, choose Add.
To remove a user, choose Delete.
To customize a users level of access, choose
Modify.
You cannot modify the access level of the default
admin account - they can do everything. This
is to prevent an unfortunate incident where, for
example, no user has the permissions required to
change another users permissions - which could
lead to the DVR being, in at least some senses,
inoperable.
User Name: Select a name for the user you want to define.
The best usernames are short, to the point, are relevant to
the specific user theyre intended for, are easily memorable
and hard to guess.
Password: A password can be any combination of numbers
(0 though 9) between one and eight characters long.
Confirm Password: Must exactly match the password for the
definition of a new user to be successful.
Level: There are two default levels of access to the DVR -
Guests and Operators.
Guest: By default, a Guest user has access to the live images
on the DVR and can search through recorded events. They
cannot change any settings or configure the DVR in any way.

MENU FUNCTIONS
Operator: The default permissions of an Operator allow them
to access and configure all aspects of the DVR.

You can easily customize the level of access each individual

user has. Simply choose the Permission button on either the
Add User or Modify to set the specific access for the user you
want. The Permission menu has two tabs - Configuration and
Operation.
Configuration: The configuration page specifies which
menu(s) the user can access. There is no hierarchy and
any combination of menus can be selected (although some
combinations would make little sense in practice).
Operation: You can select which channels the user has access
to, and what they can do with them. For example, you could
set a user to have permission to view all channels in live
viewing mode, but only playback channels 2 and 4.
Press the Set button next to each type of access to select
specific channels that the user can access.
Also, this page contains permissions for HDD Management
and Shutdown. These are surprisingly powerful levels of
access: between them, a user can remove all footage from a
DVRs hard drive and turn the DVR off. Be careful assigning
these permissions!

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System: System Information

If youre looking at the System Information screen, youve probably been directed to do so by Swann Technical Support.
If we havent told you to come here, you might be wondering what all the information means. On a day-to-day level, the answer is
very little. However, if youre still curious:
Device Name: The name that the DVR considers to be its own and what it will use to register an IP address with your DHCP host.
The remaining information is for use by Swanns Technical Support, in the event that you require assistance. The various model
and build numbers help us track down any known issues, or catalogue new issues as they come to light. It also helps us figure
out if youre running the most recent firmware on the DVR, and whether youd benefit from an upgrade.
MENU FUNCTIONS

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System: Maintenance
To maintain the operational integrity of the
DVR, it is suggested that it be rebooted
periodically. In much the same way that a
computer can become unstable if left on
for an extremely long time, the DVR can
become unstable. It is strongly suggested
that the DVR be rebooted at least once per
week.
However, as this can be a hassle
(particularly if the DVR is stashed away
somewhere inconvenient) you can set the
DVR up to reboot itself.
Enable auto reboot: Will automatically
shut the DVR down and restart it at a
certain time of the day or week.
Auto reboot at: Choose when youd like the
DVR to reboot. Typically, this will be a time
when its unlikely therell be any activity for
the DVR to record.
Firmware Upgrade (Upgrade): Instructs the DVR to update its firmware. Youll only need to use this option if instructed to do so
by Swann Technical Support. (Remember to Export your configuration first so you dont have to re-set everything!)
Default Settings (Restore): Loads the factory default settings.
This must be done after a firmware upgrade to ensure proper operation of the DVR. You can retain your settings, recording
schedule and so on by using the Import/Export Configuration function before upgrading the firmware.
Configuration (Export): Creates a file containing all the settings youve customized, including your recording preferences,
schedule, user-list and so on.
To export your settings:
Insert a USB flash drive into the USB port on
the front of the DVR. Ensure it has enough free
space (a few MB is sufficient - the file is less

MENU FUNCTIONS
than 50KB) and that it is not write-protected.
Choose Configuration: Import/Export.
Youll see a file browser, showing the contents
of the storage device.
Click Export to save your settings.
Exporting your settings will overwrite any
previous settings youve saved to that flash
drive. If you want to do sequential configuration
exports, youll need multiple USB drives - or,
rename the file using a PC (advanced users
only).
Configuration (Import): Operates in the same
way as the Export function, but is used to load a
previously saved configuration file.
Locate the file you want on your flash drive - it will be called config(time & date).tgz. For example, config20120404110829.tgz
would be the config file from April 4, 2012 at 11:08AM.
Loading the file will cause the DVR to automatically reboot.

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 Chapter

4
Reference

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SwannView Link Windows Interface

03/12/2013 10:30:15 Tue 03/12/2013 10:30:15 Tue

03/12/2013 10:30:15 Tue 03/12/2013 10:30:15 Tue

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

1. Start Live View 2. Stop Live View 3. Snapshot 4. Video Capture 5. Previous Page
6. Next Page 7. Volume 8. Split-Screen 9. Full Screen

Preview: The default live-view screen of SwannView Link.

The screen layout emulates the multi-channel live view screen of the DVR, showing you images coming directly from your
cameras in near real-time (some delay is caused by the network/Internet connection youre using to access the DVR).
You can select a single camera, or multi-channel viewing by selecting either the Split-Screen (2 x 2) or Full Screen viewing
mode buttons in the lower right corner. When in Split-Screen view, you can double-click the mouse on one of the cameras to
switch to a full screen view. Double-click again to return back to split-screen view.
Playback: Opens the Playback interface, which operates in much the same way as the playback interface on the DVR itself.
Local Settings: Defines how SwannView Link will manage and save footage and still images to your local PC.
Device Settings: Allows access to the DVRs settings. The configurable options are very similar to those youll find in the DVR
menus.
PTZ Controls: These buttons are used to control PTZ devices (if connected to the DVR). They operate in the same way as those
youll find on the DVR itself.
Basic Settings: You can alter the brightness, contrast, saturation and hue of your images here. They operate in the same way as
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those in the DVRs menu (see Display: Camera on page 24 for more information).
Advanced Settings: You can alter how each camera adapts to different light conditions for day and night.
CPU Loading: How hard your computer is working to decode and display images as they arrive from the DVR. If this is
consistently high, you can try:
disabling multiple monitor setups. The SwannView Link application doesnt support hardware acceleration across multiple
monitors. Disabling all but your primary monitor will greatly increase performance.
reduce the number of video feeds being displayed. Select a channel and click Stop to disable the monitoring.
switch to single channel view.

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SwannView Link: Local Settings

The local configuration screen is where you can customise
how SwannView Link will store and process footage on the
local PC when you download it from the DVR.
Record Path: Where SwannView Link will save recordings if
you select Record from the Preview screen.
Download Path: Where SwannView Link will save footage
that youve downloaded from the DVR.
Snapshot Path: Where SwannView Link will save still images
captured using the snapshot function.
Convert to AVI: When selected, SwannView Link will use
your PC to transcode footage from the DVRs native format
(H.264) into a format that your computer (indeed, almost any
computer) will be able to playback without special software.
About transcoding to AVI:
Dont be put off by the complex word - transcoding is just a
shortening of translating code.
Transcoding, while a straight-forward process, is very
processor intensive. You may notice significant slow-down
on your computer while the transcoding takes place. For
best results, try not to over-burden your computer - just let it
transcode the footage in peace.

Playback Problems?
Some media players have trouble playing back the transcoded AVI files from the SwannView Link software.
We recommend using VLC media player, which has no problems with the DVRs AVI files.
You can get it for free from www.videolan.org/vlc.
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Note: Very few (if any) media players will be able to play the un-modified H.264 video streams that are the DVRs native
format. The H.264 streams are raw video data with no container (AVI is a container). Its a little like trying to read a book
with no punctuation or capital letters or spaces - the transcoding process puts in the spaces and the full stops and makes it
possible to be read by someone other than the author.

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SwannView Link: Device Settings

Display: Channel Settings
Channel Name (Check Box): Whether the channels name will be
displayed on screen or not.
Channel Name: The title youd like to give that camera.
Record Data: Whether the overlays (Channel Name, Date and so on) will
be recorded onto the video with your images.
Position Settings: Select the position of the channel name and record
date labels that are overlaid on the screen.
Mask (Check Box): Turns the masking function on or off.
Mask (Setup): Creates a black privacy overlay which masks part of your
images. Will affect recordings.

Display: Output
Resolution: Set the screen resolution to output to your monitor.
Transparency: How transparent you want the DVR menus to be.
Mouse Sensitivity: Adjust the sensitivity of mouse movements.
Dwell Time: Select how long channels will be displayed when usingauto-
sequence mode.
Audio: This function is not supported by the camera(s) supplied with the
DVR.

Recording: General
Encoding Parameter: Choose from the main-stream or sub-stream to
configure.
Main Stream: The way the DVR will internally process and record video.
Sub Stream: The way the DVR will encode and send video to a remote
device (such as the PC youre using to access the DVR).
Record Audio (Check Box): This function is not supported by the camera(s)
supplied with the DVR.
Resolution: How many pixels (little dots) make up your image.
Frame Rate: How many images per second the DVR will capture.
Realtime is 30fps (NTSC) or 25fps (PAL).
Max. Bitrate: The maximum size that your video files will be. The higher
this is set, the better recordings will look - however, theyll also fill the
hard drive faster.

Recording: Advanced Config

Overwrite: Whether the DVR will erase old recordings to make room for
new ones, or not.
Pre-record: Whether the DVR will cache and save footage that occurs
immediately before an alarm/motion event.
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Delay: How long after an alarm event or motion the DVR will continue to
record for.
Pack Duration: The amount of video that will be stored as a single pack.
Unless you have very specific requirements, leave this at the default value.

Recording: Schedule
Use the Copy To functions to quickly assign identical schedule layouts to
multiple channels at once.
Be careful when programming your schedule. Its one of the most important
aspects of setting up your DVR, and if its wrong in any way, it could lead to
complications later.
Note: Do NOT select Normal and Motion/Alarm-based recording at the same
time on the same channel - this can cause conflicts in the way that the DVR
interprets footage and event information.

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SwannView Link: Device Settings

Network: General
Be careful adjusting settings here - if the DVR cant access the
network anymore, you wont be able to configure it remotely!
Network Access: How your network is addressed - either DHCP
or STATIC IP addressing.
Subnet Mask: A required additional piece of IP addressing
information.
Gateway: The way out of your network, to the Internet.
Auto DNS / Static DNS: Whether the DVR will automatically
select a DNS server, or use one you assign.
Preferred / Alternate DNS: The DVR has two DNS servers,
essentially a primary and a backup.
MAC Address: The Media Access Control address. For some
advanced networking, it can help to know this value.

Network: Advanced Settings

Your DVRs Unique IDentifier
DDNS Setup: Opens the DDNS setup window (below).
NTP Setup: Opens the Network Time Protocol setup window
(see below).
Email Setting: Opens the Email Setup window (see below).
Server Port: One of the two ports the DVR needs to communicate
over your network. Ensure nothing else uses this port. The
default value is 9000. This is the port number youll use when
logging in over the Internet from the SwannView Link software or
remote access from a mobile device.
HTTP Port: The second of two ports the DVR needs to
communicate over your network. Ensure nothing else uses this
port. The default value is 85.

NTP Setup
NTP Domain or IP Address: The server you intend to use to
access the current date and time. The default is pool.ntp.org.
NTP Port: The port that the NTP server uses. The default for
pool.ntp.org is 123.

Email Setting
Operates in the same way as the email setup menu in the DVR
menu. Rather than attempt to summarize here, its easier to
simply turn to Network: Advanced: Email Settings on page
36 to learn more.

DDNS Setup
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Where you can configure a Dynamic DNS server to track the

position of your DVR over the Internet. Check out Network:
Advanced: DDNS on page 35 for more information on DDNS
servers.
We recommend using SWANNDVR as your DNS service.
This is a free service for Swann DVR owners, which we directly
support.
To create an account with SWANNDVR, go to:
http://www.swanndvr.com/
and click the Registration button. Follow the prompts to create your
account.

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SwannView Link: Device Settings

Alarm: Motion Detection
Channel: The channel youre configuring the motion detection
settings for.
Enable: Whether the motion detection is enabled for the channel
currently selected.
Sensitivity: A sliding scale between 1 and 50. The number refers
to the number of pixels (as a percentage) that have to change
between frames - okay, this one is a little more complex than
this summary will allow. Seriously - check out Alarm: Motion
Detection - Action on page 41 for a much more useful
explanation of how motion detection works.
Action: What youd like the DVR to do when it detects motion.
Typically (assuming the schedule is configured to do so) this will
be to record video. It can also be a cue to trigger an email alert,
or to sound the DVRs internal buzzer.

Alarm: Video Loss

Action (Check boxes): Whether youd like the DVR to send an
email alert or to sound the DVRs internal buzzer.
Arm Schedule: The times of day/week youd like the DVR to be
armed to detect video loss.

Alarm: Exception
Exception Type: What event type youd like the DVR to react to.
By configuring the Action for these events, you can create any
combination of audio alerts (see below) or auto-emails to be
sent for different event types.
Audio Warning: Sounds the DVRs internal buzzer.
Send Email: Commands the DVR to send an email alert.
Show Exception: Shows any alerts that occur at the bottom right
corner of the main screen. Double-click on the alert notification
to see details.
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SwannView Link: Device Settings

Device: HDD
Operates in the same way as the HDD management menu in the
DVR menu. Rather than attempt to summarize here, its easier
to simply turn to page 43 to learn more.

System: General / System Information / Maintenance

Operates in the same way as the System submenus in the DVR
menu. Rather than attempt to summarize here, its easier to
simply turn to page 46 to learn more.
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SwannView Link Mobile Interface

1. Menu - Opens the menu to allow you to select the various different menu screens.
2. Live View - The Live View screen. A red border will surround the currently selected camera.
3. Group Indicator - SwannView Link can display up to 4 channels at a time. The white dot shows which group of 4
cameras you are currently viewing. Swipe left or right to change between groups of cameras.
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4. Snapshot - Takes a snapshot of the currently selected camera and saves it to your mobile device.
5. PTZ - This allows you to control any PTZ camera that you have connected to your DVR.
6. Stop/Start all Cameras - Tap this to stop the live view of all cameras. Tap again to restart all cameras.
7. Stop/Start selected Camera - Tap this to stop the currently selected camera. Tap again to restart.
8. Record selected Camera - Records video from the selected camera to your mobile device.
9. Enable/Disable Audio - Requires a camera with a built-in microphone.

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SwannView Link Mobile Interface

1. Live - Takes you back to the Live View screen from any other screen.
2. Record List - Takes you to the Record List page where you can playback video that you have previously recorded
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to your mobile device.

3. Device - The Device Management screen where you can add, edit or remove your DVR.
4. Help & About Us - Tap this to access the built-in manual as well as the version information.

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Troubleshooting
Q: The images from my cameras are black & white and/or
flickering. Whats up?
A: Most likely, your Video Standard isnt set correctly for
your region. Check out the section on PAL/NTSC (System:
General on page 46) for more information. As a rule of
thumb, set your video standard to NTSC if youre in the USA or
Canada, or PAL if youre in Europe, the UK or Australia.
If this is happening to only some of your cameras, then there
may be a problem with the compatibility of those cameras. If
youve got them from a kit, then this shouldnt be the case at
all and it indicates that something quite strange is happening.
If you have cameras purchased separately - particularly if
youve found them online or from overseas - then they might
not match the standards of the cameras youve already got.
The DVR can only support one video standard at a time:
mixing PAL and NTSC cameras does not work.
Q: I cant login to or unlock the DVR - it says my password is
wrong.
A: The default username/password combination for the DVR
is admin with the password section left blank.
The DVR does have a default password (12345) but it should
be disabled by default. If leaving the password section
blank doesnt work, try 12345. If that doesnt work (and you
havent set a password of your own that youve forgotten) then
something strange has happened - contact Swann technical
support (contact details are on the rear cover).
Q: The DVR will boot up and show live images, but there are
no menus being displayed. Why?
A: There might be a fault with the hard drive installed in the
DVR. Before the menu system is displayed, the DVR attempts
to detect the drive that is connected. If there is an ambiguous
signal preventing the DVR from ascertaining whether there is
a drive connected or not, then it will keep looking and waiting
for the drive to respond.
If youve just installed a new drive, disconnect it and see if that
fixes the problem.
Q: How do I eliminate false-triggers on my motion detection?
A: Theres no guaranteed way to eliminate false triggers, but
- in the majority of cases - you can fine-tune the DVRs motion
detection settings to reduce the number of false triggers
youre likely to get. (See Alarm: Motion on page 38 for
more detailed information about setting motion detection.)
1. Mask any redundant movement. This includes obvious things
like trees blowing in the wind, roads with cars passing and
so forth. Some less obvious things which might cause false
triggers include: the flickering of screens, monitors or
fluorescent lights, reflections of movement in windows/
mirrors and so on, lights which are often turned on or off,
shadows passing and so on. We cant possibly imagine what
youre going to find in your unique circumstances, so we
encourage you to experiment.
2. Fine-tune your sensitivity. Theres no substitute for getting
a volunteer to play the part of intruder and experimenting.
Some cameras are just more touchy than others; some
lighting conditions are harder to get the settings right for.
As a rule, CCD cameras require a lower value than CMOS
cameras, and that motion detection is going to be more
sensitive at night (whenever the active infrared night vision is
active).
3. Adjust your image settings (see Display: Camera on page
24). Unlike many image adjustment options, the DVR pre-
processes video, which means that, when the DVR looks for
motion, its looking at your already processed images. By
reducing the amount of video noise in your image, you can
increase the accuracy of the motion detection dramatically.
Typically, the settings that most often require adjustment are
Brightness and Contrast.
Video noise is a problem with any video signal. Its the very
slight change in brightness and/or color of pixels between
frames, and its commonly regarded as being just one of
those things when dealing with digital imaging. By tweaking
the brightness and contrast, you can usually remove a good
deal of this noise, as it tends to be most pronounced near the
blacks (the really dark bits) and the whites (the really bright
bits) of your images.
Q: Im getting too many email alerts from the DVR.
A: There are a few things that might help, depending whats
generating the email alerts. Here are a few possibilities:
The emails are for real events, however it is telling me about
it multiple times.
This indicates that the DVR is functioning properly, but that
the Interval setting for your email alerts is too low. Increasing
the Interval time will decrease the number of email alerts the
DVR sends.
The DVR sends email alerts when nothing seems to be
happening.
This suggests that there might be something amiss with your
Motion Detection settings.
The most likely explanation is that there is something in
view of your cameras which is moving, or causes the illusion
of movement. Have a look at Alarm: Motion Detection
Configuration on page 39 for some more information.
The DVR keeps reporting errors (such as Video Loss, HDD
Error or similar).
There seems to be a hardware or configuration fault with
the DVR. These are most often caused by a faulty (or simply
poorly connected) connection or cable. Check the integrity of
your cables and connections.
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Third Party Hardware
Due to its nature as a networked device, the DVR is often
required to operate with third party hardware. We do
everything we can to ensure the DVR is compatible with as
many third party devices as possible, there will always be
some that require a little extra configuration.
Routers
Im using a router which doesnt support DHCP
addressing
or
Some devices on my network require STATIC addressing.
Youll need to set the address of the DVR manually. Youll need
to:
Find Your Networks IP Address Range
Create a Unique IP Address
Assign the IP address information to the DVR.
Finding your Networks IP Address
Range
First, youll need to know the IP address, Subnet Mask and
DNS Server of at least one other device on your network. Its
easiest to find these addresses by using a computer on the
same network.
For Windows-based PCs:
Open the Start Menu, navigate to Accessories and open
Command Prompt.
Type ipconfig and press Enter.
Your IP Address information will be displayed.
For Mac-based systems:
From the Apple menu, select System Preferences.
Click on the Network pane.
Click on the Advanced button and look under the TCP/IP,
DNS, and Ethernet tabs.
Creating a Unique IP Address
REFERENCE
The IP Address of your computer will be made up of four
groups of numbers, seperated by periods: aaa.bbb.ccc.ddd
The first three groups of numbers (aaa.bbb.ccc) must be the
same as the other device on your network. The last number
(ddd) must be changed to something unique that nothing else
on your network uses.
For example:
If your computers IP address is 192.168.1.10, then a suitable
unique IP address for your DVR will be 192.168.1.210
Note: Each number in the IP address cannot exceed 255.
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Assigning the IP Address information
to the DVR.
We recommend doing this locally (on the DVR itself) even if you
can access the DVR via the network (using the SwannView Link
software) in the meantime.
If youre connected remotely and the networking information
changes, you might lose the connection to the DVR.
Open the Network: General menu on your DVR (see
Network: General on page 33).
Select Static addressing.
IP Address: Enter the unique IP that you created for the
DVR here.
Subnet Mask: Enter the same value as the computers
Subnet Mask.
DNS Server: Enter the same value as the computers
DNS.
The DVR should now be accessible via your local network.
Before you can access the DVR remotely, youll need to
Forward Ports (STATIC addressing does not support UPnP,
see below).
Im using a router which doesnt support
UPnP. How do I forward ports?
It depends on what type of router you have. Theres no
standard procedure for forwarding ports - each manufacturer
has their own user interface and procedure for customising
the behaviour of the router.
First, check the routers documentation - the instructions may
be there.
If your routers documentation doesnt describe the method
for port forwarding, then open a web browser and navigate
to www.portforward.com - theyve got instructions on port
forwarding for (literally) thousands of different routers.
We cant offer much more information about forwarding ports
here, as this is a process totally dependent on third-party
hardware. If you do run into trouble, we suggest contacting the
manufacturer of the router.
Alternately, if youre using an older router which doesnt
support UPnP, then it might be time for an upgrade - modern
routers are increasingly powerful and are (in most cases)
easier than ever to setup. We think that UPnP is a fantastic
feature thats well worth having, not just for DVRs.
EN REFERENCE

Warranty Information
USA Australia United Kingdom
Swann Communications USA Inc. Swann Communications Swann Communications LTD.
12636 Clark Street Unit 13, 331 Ingles Street, Stag Gates House 63/64 The Avenue
Santa Fe Springs CA 90670 Port Melbourne Vic 3207 SO171XS
USA Australia United Kingdom

Warranty Terms & Conditions

Swann Communications warrants this product against defects in workmanship and material for a period of one (1) year from
its original purchase date. You must present your receipt as proof of date of purchase for warranty validation. Any unit which
proves defective during the stated period will be repaired without charge for parts or labour or replaced at the sole discretion of
Swann. The end user is responsible for all freight charges incurred to send the product to Swanns repair centres. The end user is
responsible for all shipping costs incurred when shipping from and to any country other than the country of origin.
The warranty does not cover any incidental, accidental or consequential damages arising from the use of or the inability to use
this product. Any costs associated with the fitting or removal of this product by a tradesman or other person or any other costs
associated with its use are the responsibility of the end user. This warranty applies to the original purchaser of the product only
and is not transferable to any third party. Unauthorized end user or third party modifications to any component or evidence of
misuse or abuse of the device will render all warranties void.
By law some countries do not allow limitations on certain exclusions in this warranty. Where applicable by local laws, regulations
and legal rights will take precedence.
For Australia: Our goods come with guarantees which cannot be excluded under Australian Consumer Law. You are entitled to
a replacement or refund for a major failure and for compensation for any other reasonably foreseeable loss or damage. You are
also entitled to have the goods repaired or replaced if the goods fail to be of acceptable quality and the failure does not amount to
major failure.

REFERENCE

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 English

Helpdesk / Technical Support Details

Swann Technical Support
All Countries E-mail: tech@swann.com

Telephone Helpdesk

USA Toll Free 1-800-627-2799

USA Exchange & Repairs 1-800-627-2799 (Option 1)

(M-F, 9am-5pm US PT)

AUSTRALIA 1300 138 324

NEW ZEALAND Toll Free 0800 479 266

UK 0203 027 0979

Swann Communications 2013 M4_4200H1811113E

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